Moseley’s defence must take credit for the way they withstood the battering as Cov, 26-10 down after conceding an 80-metre breakaway try six minutes into the second half, hauled themselves back to within six points.

But how perverse that Cov, stung for three penalty tries when Moseley staged a similar recovery to win 28-25 at the Butts Park Arena in October, saw all their claims turned down as the home pack conceded a succession of set-piece penalties.

Just as Luke Pearce had been so quick to run between Cov’s posts, so Rob Debney refused to apply the ultimate sanction.

With Moseley hanging on within touching distance of their line, a touch judge’s interpretation of David Askew’s attempt to extricate his boot from under a Moseley body saw Cov penalised for the only time in the half and allowed the hosts to clear to touch as the final whistle blew.

In the final analysis, Cov’s first-half failings gave accurate full-back Tristan Roberts too many opportunities to kick for goal and they were perhaps too one-dimensional in their efforts to break down Moseley’s last line of defence in those frantic closing stages.

Rugby director Phil Maynard said: “It was a great effort and another game where the officials affected the outcome. Three dropped scrums and no penalty try? You can’t legislate for that, or the fact that the player who picked the ball up for their breakaway try was in an offside position and it wasn’t seen.

“Yes, there were too many mistakes in the first half and too many daft penalties, but I was really pleased with the way the lads got their blood up for the second half and took the game to Moseley.

“Given where we were three or four weeks ago we have a lot to be proud of.”

Moseley conceded ten penalties in the first half to Cov’s six, but it was the home side who capitalised to lead 19-10 at the change.

Roberts kicked two to give Moseley a 6-0 lead after eight minutes and the full-back added the conversion on 15 minutes when Cov squandered a promising midfield position with two wayward passes and were then turned over to present scrum-half Jordi Pasqualin with a 35-metre run-in for the opening try.

Four penalties in quick succession against Moseley ended in a yellow card for second row Ali Muldowney, for dangerous play at a line-out, and Cov laid siege to the home line with Mike Walls eventually firing out a long pass to the unmarked James Lewis who stepped over in the right corner, improving the angle enough for James Thomas to convert.

Three minutes later Cov were back to 13-10 when Moseley were penalised and marched back a further ten metres for dissent, leaving fly-half Thomas a kick from 25 metres, but Roberts closed the half with two further penalties – the first a ridiculously harsh decision against Richie Bignell for not rolling away from the breakdown when he was pinned on his back by two opponents.

Centre Jonny May’s touchline sprint and Roberts’s conversion left Cov with a mountain to climb, but Aaron Carpenter went over from a close-range line-out and nine minutes later a move which started when Arthur Brenton won a line-out on the left of the field was finished off in the opposite corner by James Lewis, and Cov’s belief that they could do it was obvious.

Wing replacement Kurt Johnson sliced into the home 22 with his first touch of the ball and was an ankle tap away from a try before May was sin- binned as Cov continued to crank up the pressure. Somehow, and with a little help, Moseley held out.

Moseley: tries Pasqualin (15), May (46); conversions Roberts 2; penalties Roberts 4 (2, 8, 30, 38). Coventry: tries J Lewis 2 (24, 59), Carpenter (50); conversion Thomas (24); penalty Thomas (27).

Moseley: Roberts; Bressington, May, Reay, Mensah-Coker; Borgen (MacBurnie 56), Pasqualin; Sigley, Caves, Harden, Muldowney (Hall 62), Stott, Mason, Pennycook (Rowlands 75), Rodwell.

Coventry: Winter (Hayes 76); J Lewis, Apikotoa, C Lewis, Frewin (Johnson 58); Thomas, Walls; Dugard (Maddocks 48), McMillan (Dwyer 68), Hall, Herrington (Dechartres 73), McGowan (Brenton 52), Venter (Askew 60), Bignell, Carpenter.

Referee: R Debney (RFU).

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