For the faithful who made the trip down to Berkshire this was a painful and disappointing experience which surely won’t be forgotten by them for quite some time.

Against a side without a win since 8th November and with only three all season, even with a starting line greatly changed from a week earlier, this sadly must now rank by far as Coventry’s worse performance of the season. Forced into a number of changes through injuries and effectively fielding the only 22 fit players in the squad, Cov went into the match without any real play maker or recognised goal kicker, that much said the performance lacked any real pattern or verve and the longer it went on the more frustrating it became.

Not surprisingly Newbury were delighted. A limited side who however played with a desire and who tackled as if there lives depended on it. It was clearly a high spot in a disappointing season for them.  Coventry were simply running up against a constant brick wall and appeared to have no way of breaking it down.

It could be argued Cov did appear to cross the line on possibly three occasions, but each time failed to satisfy the referee the ball had been grounded properly as they were adjudged to have been held up and in addition, several promising positions were lost which should have been firmly capitalised on.

Overall though an awful afternoon if you happened to be a Cov fan. Playing into a stiff breeze, early forward pressure bringing no reward and two penalty opportunities being spurned with no regular kicker in the starting line up. Newbury it was who edged in front on 12 minutes, fly half Stevenson slotting a 30 metre penalty after Coventry were penalised for not releasing and Sam Herrington spoken to. The visitors however were soon back attacking before a knock on in the home 22 put a stop to that before after 19 minutes Cov did edge in front for what to prove to be the only time. A patient build up saw Darren Clayton inject pace to feed Lee Parry. When halted the ball was moved left, albeit with a stutter in the middle before Ben Toft from full back edged in at the left hand corner, Donovan Sanders making a fair but failing attempt to convert from touch.

An excellent Newbury move five minutes later saw them waste a potential overlap before the Blues took the lead after 29 minutes and even that emanated from a Coventry mistake. Inside his own 22 Ton Slater saw his attempted clearance kick charged down for a grateful Kessell to charge over, Stevenson hitting an upright with a non too difficult conversion. Worse was to follow before the break for after Clayton was adjudged offside Stevenson slotted the easy 20 metre penalty and in added on time also missed one from 40 metres.

11-5 down but with wind advantage, surely Cov could pull it round. Early signs looked better Henno Venter being held up following a drive from a line out, before after 45 minutes with pressure still on, Laurie McGlone muscled over for his 9th try of the season, Donovan Sanders missing a conversion that would have put the side back in front.

Shortly afterwards however both George Dixon and Tom Slater were called upon two put in important tackles as Newbury threatened, but it was Cov who were destined to have a bulk of the attacking opportunities. Chris Whitehead on as a replacement was close but had Lee Parry unmarked outside, McGlone again being held up. Newbury no 8 Phillips was yellow carded but even with a man advantage a combination of Coventry errors and dogged defence kept the Butts Park men out. More attacking saw Ben Pons lose possession near the home 22, Donovan Sanders then receiving yellow for not allowing a Newbury player to play the ball.

Frustrations simply kept increasing as superb Newbury defending was more than equal to Cov’s lack of penetration. A Stevenson penalty on 80 minutes was to prove to the final nail although Scottish referee Mc Menemy subsequently added on nine minutes. Time for Carl Burgess to knock on within the home 22 and for a deep counter from defence to set up a  final try scoring opportunity. Having made the hard yards and in keeping with the afternoon the last pass went straight into touch, opportunity lost and Newbury were celebrating for them a significant victory.
A great deal for players and supporters to ponder.

Coventry. Ben Toft, Lee Parry, George Dixon, Donovan Sanders, Ollie Winter, Mike Walls, Tom Slater, Rob Dugard, Stewart Pearl, Rudi Brits, Sam Herrington, Ollie Atkinson, Henno Venter (Capt), Darren Clayton, Laurie McGlone

Replacements; Chris Whitehead for Pearl, Ricky Whitehall for Dugard, Ronnie McLean for Toft, Carl Burgess for Atkinson, Ben Jones for Slater, Ben Pons for Venter.

Not used; Justin Lewis.

Newbury. Try; Tom Kessell. Penalty goals; Ben Stevenson 3

Coventry. Tries; Ben Toft, Laurie McGlone