By Tom Little
January 25 2009

At a dry crisp Goldington Road, before an expectant 2506 crowd, Coventry were defeated by 4 tries to nil. Yet for an hour Coventry expectations were justified as their pack took the game to Bedford, more than holding their own. In the end it was chances taken rather than chances spurned that won the game for the home side. The 2nd half had 3 defining moments that thwarted Cov's hopes. Coventry lost the toss and had to play with the notorious slope, in an eminently forgettable 1st half, especially for the home supporters, who became increasingly annoyed at their own teams performance. The only real excitement occurred in the 2nd min after an almighty fracas on the Cov line, Bedford's No 8 the abrasive Paul Tupai, was sin binned for hitting Rudi Brits.

Despite intensive pressure on the home line with Hurrell and McGlone almost crossing, Bedford held out.

The home side began to get more possession, but strong Cov defence, coupled with Bedford's wayward kicking and passing, kept the home crowd quiet and disgruntled. Suffice it to say that the exchange of penalties by Dorrian and Pritchard, were the sole scores in the first half, making halftime Bedford 3 Coventry 3.

The 2nd half could only get better, and now Bedford had the advantage of the slope. The first defining moment came on 2 mins after a surging break by Sam Herrington from the halfway line. His kick forward was chased down by Donovan Sanders, but was adjudged to have lost control over the Bedford line, so 7 points went a begging.  From the restart the ball was switched deep into the Cov corner and Paul Tupai was forced over on 8 mins for an unconverted try. The score was now Bedford 8 Coventry 3.

Yet Cov refused to give up and by the 16^th minute two Dorrian penalties had given Cov back the lead by 9 points to 8.

As the game approached the final quarter Bedford upped their game making more use of the slope and their fast backs. Following continual home pressure on the Cov line the ball was switched to the wing for Ollie Hodge to storm over, for another unconverted try. The score now Bedford 13 Cov 9.

The 2nd defining moment came on 26 mins after intense home pressure Chris Whitehead was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on. Bedford took full advantage with 2 tries scored by Harries and Botha, once again far out on the wings and unconverted, to make score Bedford 23 Cov 9.

Yet Coventry continued to press, and deep in injury time the third moment came when they even lost the chance of a losing bonus point. Hayes was harshly judged to have lost control of the ball when getting away his scoring pass to Toft.

Once again a 50/50 game that could have been won if all chances were taken. Overall the pack played well, even if control at the base of the scrum was missing at times Miller had an excellent game until had to go off injured, but my MOM for his surging runs and lineout work was Sam Herrington.

At times we had plenty of possession but lacked a cutting edge but could not fault the commitment of the side. However with Esher winning well, we need to start picking up points from such games.