By John Wilkinson, Coventry Telegraph.
April 16 2012
EALING’S potent back division proved just too hot for Coventry to handle in a 14-try National League One extravaganza at Vallis Way.
Cov were given the runaround from the opening whistle, conceding two tries in the first six minutes to the home side’s slick passing and pace across the park, and after 18 minutes of mayhem, Ealing – still with an outside hope of taking the league title – already had their four-try bonus point in the bag.
In between, Cov had used their first period of sustained possession to craft a well-taken try for Heath Stevens, converted by Mark O’Connor, but it also underlined the difference between the two sides – it took Cov a few minutes and several phases to get over the line, while Ealing seemed to do it in the twinkling of an eye.
And although Cov clawed their way into the game, coming back from 38-7 down after 28 minutes to 38-26 two minutes into the second half, the decisions at crucial times all seemed to go against them and the gap duly opened up again.
On the credit side, Cov kept their effort going to the end, posting the final score of the game, and to score five tries away from home was a fair reward for their contribution.
But Cov’s initial failure to shackle the Ealing runners and close down their midfield channels – as they had done when the two sides met at the Butts Park Arena – meant that those opening exchanges were always going to determine the final outcome.
Cov were punished from the off when Ealing stole a line-out ball near halfway and promptly shifted the ball wide for Phil Chesters to score, and when Cov were whistled up at the restart for going in front of the kicker in their eagerness and then conceded a free-kick for going in early at the scrum, Tom Wheatcroft’s break through the middle set up Rory Damant for a try which Ben Ward converted.
Cov’s dominant scrum and some incisive running. with Lewis Barker prominent, set up the score for Stevens, but Cov were slow to react to a quickly-taken line-out and when Chesters kicked through on the left, referee Richard Kelly decreed that the winger was first to the bouncing ball in-goal despite the apparent validity of Spencer Sutherland’s claims to have won the race.
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