Coventry 16 Northampton Saints 48

Written by John Butler

Monday, 07 April 2008

One suspects a good number of the spectators who witnessed this match will have departed believing the final score line was a little harsh and undeserved as far as Coventry were concerned. Ultimately there can be little doubt the overall fitness and quality of the Saints was a major factor. After a fascinating first half which saw Cov deservedly ahead at the break and with the Blue and Whites still not out of complete contention, a yellow card against replacement scrum half Nathan Jones on 71 minutes on the face of it seemed a little harsh, particularly as on two previous occasions Saints players had escaped censure when similar punishment might have been administered. As it was whilst down to ‘’14’’ Cov conceded three tries, a further one following, all of which was very disappointing after such a fine first half. Dave Addleton, Cov’s acting Coach however was quick to point out post match that in allowing the Saints too much possession at times, that itself was difficult to defend totally with such potent ball handlers. Coventry desperately needed a good start but sadly did not achieve it. Within two minutes skipper Ben Russell saw his attempted clearance charged down and with three close in scrums following number eight Easter was able to plough over, Reihana missing a non too difficult conversion. Within eight minutes to the delight of the home crowd, Coventry were in front. A high Myles Dorrian kick out of defence saw the Saints international full back Reihana make a real hash of it, the ball bouncing twice before Ronnie McLean took it in his stride to steam over from all of 40 metres, Mc Lean converting. It became 10-5 five minutes later, McLean’s penalty punishing the league leaders for not releasing, although they were soon to hit back with a second try. Again a Cov mistake, this time Dorrian’s clearance not finding touch allowed Reihana to jink through and redeem himself before feeding Lewitt, the former Cov colt crossing for Reihana to convert. There was still time however for Coventry to respond before the break, McLean slotting another penalty on 35 minutes, although either side of it there might just have been further home glory. McLean was wide with an attempted 43 metre penalty, whilst Donovan Sanders couldn’t hold on to an inside pass from Kurt Johnson after the South African had initially made the inroads into the Saints defence. Then on 37 minutes, the impressive McLean only just failed to nail an attempted interception inside the Cov half. The home faithful were happy though for at 13-12 they had seen their side really come good and pose a lot of difficulties for their visitors. What however they then needed was a similar start to the second half. Sadly from a Cov point of view they were to conceded the lead again within two minutes of the resumption and it was to prove decisive. Scrum half Robinson broke, flicked an inside pass to the supporting Diggin, the speedy winger doing the rest for Reihana to convert. Mc Lean added penalty number three two minutes later, George Dixon then breaking from deep only for Dorrian to knock on before on 54 minutes the Saints finally put some space between the scores. Centre Ansbro it was who broke impressively for try number four and with Reihana converting it had become 16-26. A splendid spell of sustained home pressure brought no reward, Johnson being held in the left hand corner before Saints cleared and Jones received his yellow card. Not surprisingly numbers and pressure had to tell, Howard, Tong’uiha and Shields all crossing, Reihana converting the first, before with Cov back to full strength the impressive Diggin crossed for try number eight five minutes into injury time after some splendid handling and support work ,Reihana again failing with his kick. Coventry in many ways could feel pleased with their afternoon’s work, but ultimately disappointed by a margin overall that was one feels just a little harsh and unjust. Coventry. Ben Russell (Capt), George Dixon, Ronnie McLean, Donovan Sanders, Kurt Johnson, Myles Dorrian, Mike Walls, Dai Maddocks, Chris Whitehead, Rudi Brits, Gregor Gillanders, Ian Nimmo, Henno Venter, Darren Clayton, Laurie McGlone Replacements; Rob Dugard for Brits, Hendry Rheeders for Venter, Jamie Miller for Clayton, Nathan Jones for Walls, Tom Slater for Dixon. Coventry. Try; Ronnie Mc Lean. Conversion; McLean. Penalty goals; Mc Lean 3  Northampton. Tries; Paul Diggin 2, Nick Easter, Ben Lewitt, Jon Ansbro, Johnny Howard, Soane Tonga’uiha, Paul Shields.   Conversions; Bruce Reihana 4                                 John Butler

Last Updated ( Monday, 07 April 2008 )

 

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