Coventry 14 Sedgley Park 24 by John Wilkinson.


By John Wilkinson, Coventry Telegraph.
January 10 2012

A SEASON which began so full of promise for Coventry is in danger of falling apart after a fourth successive defeat to send them further down the National League One table.

From a heady position of fourth place in mid-October, Cov are now in the bottom half and looking over their shoulders instead of up.

A length-of-the-field try in stoppage time denied Cov even the consolation of a losing bonus point and with only one point to show for their last four games – three against teams themselves battling to stay up – there is obvious cause for concern.

Yet it should have been so different on Saturday. Cov dominated the opening 45 minutes in front of another good crowd at the Butts Park Arena and, well worth their 14-0 half-time lead, were firmly on course to start the New Year on the right foot when Park were reduced to 14 men with a yellow card for prop Dan Birchall.

Instead of pushing on, however, Cov took their foot off the pedal and the remainder of the game belonged to the resurgent visitors who, once they grabbed a foothold through a try from Cov old boy Louis McGowan, never looked back.

Three more tries followed, two from deep positions with Cov open at the back as they pressed forward, and the home side had no reply as they toiled in vain against a Park defence that was the main reason why they had stayed in contention over the opening 40 minutes.

It took Cov 25 minutes of probing to find a way through the Park rearguard, winger Spencer Sutherland – who enjoyed a promising debut – going over in the right corner for a try which Will Maisey, who had missed an earlier penalty from 41 metres, converted superbly from a wide angle.

Park’s first concerted attack near the home line ended in a knock-on forced by a Lewis Barker tackle, and minutes later the scrum-half was in action at the other end as he found a gap behind a ruck and scampered over for the second home try which Maisey again converted.


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Coventry 14 Sedgley Park 24 by John Wilkinson.
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