Surely those who witnessed this match at the Butts Park Arena will remember it for a very long time with some relish, that is if you happen to support the Blue and Whites. For the Cornish, the trek home must have seemed pretty long, for they had seen their expensively assembled squad given a pretty torrid afternoon.

In weather conditions which forced both sides to take the decision to change jerseys at half time even before the match had kicked off, Coventry sent their followers into a mood of sheer delight with a performance 100 % full of grit, determination and team spirit that should done wonders for morale after the difficult summer. Indeed what a day for the whole club ! Not surprisingly Rugby Director Phil Maynard and his coaching team were also delighted post match that their squad had stuck so well to so much that had been discussed in training, the need to be patient in build ups, retain discipline and to frustrate a side who, despite the conditions seemed extraordinarily keen to move the ball around. Against such activity, Coventry’s defence was simply superb throughout and the longer the game progressed, the more frustrated and error prone the Cornishmen became.

It is hard to resist singling out individuals after such an outstanding result for there were several notable performances, but such was the collective effort of the 20 players who actually took part, it would, on further reflection be invidious to do so. It is difficult to recall a bigger, more complete team/squad effort. And they ‘’nilled’’ the visitors as well, something a Cov side had not achieved for some six seasons.

Initial signs did not look so promising as the  kick off was poorly gathered and the opening moments did suggest the Cornish Pirates as predicted would prove a very difficult handful with their big pack. Cov however weathered the early flurry and then gave themselves a real lift to take the lead they were never to lose after 10 minutes. With the Pirates penalised near their ‘’22’’, the ever alert Nathan Jones took a quick tap which caught the visitors not 10 metres back leaving Ronnie McLean to land his first points of the season from close in.

Already the match was becoming very feisty with referee Wilson and his two touch judges having their hands full, but excellent defence by Cov, which was to be a significant feature throughout was already firmly in evidence. Samoan fly half Sanft was wide with a 35 metre penalty attempt for the West Country side before on 22 minutes McLean landed a second penalty from a similar position to the first as the Cornish Pirates were again penalised for straying offside.

6 –0 at the end of a very competitive first half played out in the worst conditions many could remember for September; could Cov keep it going for a further forty ?

It was no great surprise that early in the second half, the blue and whites, now playing in red had to withstand Cornish attempts to pull back their deficit, replacement wing and former Cov favourite James Moore however missing a penalty attempt from 41 metres. The Butts Park men were not helping their own cause as the line outs, even on their own put in were not functioning satisfactorily, this being the only area really to cause concern throughout the whole game.

Both sides by now had begun to put on fresh legs in the heavy conditions, before after 70 minutes, full back Ben Russell was agonisingly close in the left hand corner after Ronnie Mc Lean had re cycled possession.

Two minutes later however Cov were not to be denied as McLean struck his third penalty, this time with a superb effort from a wide angle to leave his side two scores clear. With the Cornish Pirates becoming even more frustrated as intelligent kicking notably from Myles Dorrian was forcing them to counter from deep, McLean almost took advantage of another error, his 40 metre penalty attempt falling just short in injury time.

A minute later the seal was put on an outstanding performance with a try which sent the home crowd wild. With the Pirates losing possession some 30 metres out, Myles Dorrian stole in to intercept and storm away to the corner for the games only try before he was mobbed by his colleagues; just more evidence of the passion and team spirit displayed throughout. To put cream on the top, Ronnie McLean added a superb conversion before the final whistle was greeted with another standing ovation from the home crowd for their heroes.

It was one of those afternoons many will remember for a whole host of reasons for a long time.

Coventry. Ben Russell, Lee Parry, Ronnie McLean, Ollie Winter, Tom Slater, Myles Dorrian, Nathan Jones, Dai Maddocks, Chris Whitehead, Rudi Brits, Sam Herrington, Rob Walton, Henno Venter (Capt), Jamie Miller, Laurie McGlone

Replacements; Stewart Pearl for Whitehead, Rob Dugard for Brits, Darren Clayton for Miller, Mike Walls for Jones, Carl Burgess for Walton.

Not used; Sam Montague, Ricky Whitehall.