By John Wilkinson, Coventry Telegraph.
November 29 2011
PATIENCE is a virtue, and a maturing Coventry showed it in plenty to secure an outstanding victory over league leaders Ealing in a game which was a credit to National One rugby.
Two tries down inside 14 minutes, largely through their own mistakes, Cov regrouped to lead 22-14 with 20 minutes left only to then concede two more tries in quick succession.
But young heads refused to drop and Cov’s reply was another indication of just how much progress they have made over the last year as they played their way back into a position from which to win the game and took their time to make it count with an Ethan Waller try, also securing a bonus point, in the sixth minute of added time.
The roar which greeted the final whistle showed just how much the crowd – rising game by game – appreciated the effort shown across the whole 80 minutes, while in a wider context the value of the result cannot be under-estimated as Cov remain firmly in the leading pack approaching the halfway mark in the season and with confidence growing all the time.
Electing to play into a strong wind, Cov went behind inside 90 seconds as early errors proved costly. Elliott Read missed touch from Ealing’s kick-off, Peter Hodgkinson replied with a long kick into the right corner, and when Cov lost the line-out, Ealing created space outside for centre Sam Wardingley to go over for a try which was well converted by Ben Ward.
Cov showed their intent with an enterprising passage of play which produced a Luke Myring penalty on 11 minutes but Matt Tibbatts knocked on Ealing’s restart and the visitors struck from the ensuing scrum by stretching Cov to the right and then moving the ball back inside for prop Tim Brockett to power over, Ward again converting.
Cov’s response was impressive, driving the opposition back at a line-out from a Myring penalty for Adam Parkins to claim the try, and prompted by some excellent work at scrum-half from Lewis Barker, the home side finished the half in some style – Andy Murray sprinting 80 metres to the posts, only for play to be brought back to their 22 for a forward pass right at the start of the move, before a contender for try of the season put them in front of the half-time whistle.
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