Coventry’s two match winning run came to an abrupt and disappointing end at the Butts Park Arena. Fate can often conspire and add to problems and that scenario was certainly true here.

Within 18 minutes of kick off, Cov had been forced to make two substitutions losing young scrum half Tom Slater carried off on a stretcher with ankle damage and six minutes later skipper Henno Venter after a clash of heads.

The situation was compounded even further in first half injury time, referee Roberts sending off lock Sam Herrington after an incident at a ruck What was already a difficult situation against the side second in the table had become a near impossible one.

There are plusses and minuses to be taken from this defeat. The positives for the manner in which the 14 men stuck bravely to their task in the second which only saw Bedford add 12 points to their tally and both of those were from breakaways which arguably could and should have been stopped. The negatives, certainly some missed tackles despite all the bravery displayed, whilst once  again the line outs only functioned spasmodically,  but overall the good sized home crowd were left totally frustrated at what overall proved to be a disappointing night; Bedford for their part should also be pondering why with so much dominance and possession they only added two scores when Cov were depleted.

Both sides began in lively fashion, Coventry notably through the powerful George Dixon who’s running all evening was his sides most potent weapon. Canadian international Pritchard put first points on the board on 9 minutes, the first of many penalties referee Roberts deemed necessary to award against Cov, before within the space of 6 minutes came the unfortunate double substitutions.

A superb Myles Dorrian tackle on the dangerous Davey stopped the Bedford man in his tracks before James Miller was penalised and on 24 minutes Pritchard made it 0-6 from 39 metres. Just a minute later matters got worse and to a degree needlessly so as the Blue and Whites in their new kit made a hash of a 22 metre drop out, only to see their midfield split for Davey to speed over wide out, Pritchard missing the kick.

In first half injury time following the departure of Herrington, Pritchard landed the resultant penalty to leave Cov staring down the barrel as to what might happen second half at 0 –14 and with Bedford having dominated possession.

Well, the truth is those 14 Cov men can be well proud of their second half endeavours. True, home realistic scoring opportunities remained limited and largely when the dangerous Dixon was in possession but after Ronnie McLean had put in a try saving tackle on the elusive Dickson after the Bedford scrum half had broken from a line out, McLean himself calmly struck a 37 metre penalty on 57 minutes to put Coventry’s only points on the board.

Bedford were to score their two subsequent second half tries Twelvetrees storming in after 59 metres after Pritchard had led a counter from his own ‘22’’ and then Davey once more displayed his pace to cross on the left, Pritchard converting the former.

Following a penalty kick to touch a drive to the posts saw the position lost through a knock on, Dickson for Bedford lost the ball near the Cov line and one was finally left with the feeling that despite all the superhuman home second half efforts, Bedford in reality should have won by more. They didn’t and for that Coventry can deservedly feel and believe there were positives to be taken.

An already not particularly large squad has been further hit by injuries to key players however, Lee Parry also departing at half time and with tough away encounters to come, the squad will really need to dig deep.

Coventry. Ben Russell, Ronnie McLean, George Dixon, Lee Parry, Myles Dorrian, Tom Slater, Ricky Whitehall, Chris Whitehead, Rob Dugard, Sam Herrington, Carl Burgess, Henno Venter (Capt), Darren Clayton, Laurie McGlone

Replacements; Stewart Pearl for Whitehead, Laurence Sanderson for Dugard, Rob Walton for Parry, Greg Thomas for Mc Glone, Nathan Jones for Slater, Tommy Hayes for Russell, Jamie Miller for Venter

Coventry. Penalty goal; Ronnie McLean

Bedford. Tries; Ian Davey 2, Billy Twelvetrees. Conversion; James Pritchard 1. Penalty goals; Pritchard 3