By Mr Bow Jangles
September 22 2003

Bristol badly needed a good performance after the disappointment of last weeks loss to the Pertemp Bees, and it was a marked improvement against Coventry but lacking the firepower in the pack and the organisation at 10 to take the win. Picture courtesy of & copyright belonging to the official site.

The Bristol boys looked like they meant business as they made their way out onto a hard and dusty pitch at Coundon Road, no more so than the newly streamlined Sam Cox making his long awaited competitive debut for the club in place of the injured Owen Evans. Rik Martin-Redman, Mike Griffiths and Adam Billig were also given starts as Hill shuffled the pack in search of a quick bounce back from the previous weekend.

 

The signs were ominous almost straight from the kick off as Coventry took possession and targeted the much-maligned Bristol pack with a rolling maul. Bristol were more alert this week tackling much better around the fringes and putting enough pressure on to enforce the turnover. Recycling at the breakdown was not good however and Coventry were awarded the first penalty of the day after the Shoguns were penalised for holding on. They kicked to touch and again from the lineout they kept the ball in tight with a series of pick and drives. Chris Morgan put in a thumping tackle to slow them down and Bristol’s defence was looking far improved from last Sunday. However the pack just could not cope with the rolling mauls and the Coventry openside Danny Collins went over under a heap of players for their first score after just 8 minutes! Luke Smith converted and once again Bristol had started a game badly on the back foot. BRIS 0 – 7 COVENTRY.

 

Hook restarted the game and the powerful looking Coventry right wing Kurt Johnson gathered and returned with real pace. Another excellent tackle from the focused Morgan brought him down. The forwards wrapped Johnson up quickly and the Shoguns were awarded a kickable penalty for ‘holding on’. After last weeks kicking display, this was a real test for young Mike Hook and he showed good character to slot over from wide left. BRIS 3 – 7 COVENTRY. The large travelling Bristol support was now in good voice as their team had finally got on the scoreboard.

 

Bris knocked on straight from the kick-off and Coventry were awarded a free kick from the ensuing scrum. A scrappy period of play followed when both sides handling let them down and Bristol found it hard to clear their lines. Hawker looked like he was struggling with a thigh injury, and after trying to run it off he was eventually replaced by Duncan Hayward after just 12 minutes of action.

 

Play had moved to halfway and Bris had a lineout. A pre-worked move saw Hunty tip down for Saul Nelson who was crudely taken out by Rob Chrystie the Coventry No. 9. The popular hooker fell awkwardly on his head and was badly shaken, but decided to play on. The travelling support were outraged when the referee only gave Chrystie a talking to! Bristol had a penalty and kicked to touch, but lost the lineout in an attacking position.

 

Bristol were soon under pressure again as Billig and Griffiths both went for the same high ball and Matt Richards the Midlander’s left wing kicked on. Lucky for Bris Dodge showed outstanding pace and awareness to clear the danger.

 

The Coventry forwards once again tried to dominate before releasing to their backs who knocked on. The Bristol pack won a scrum against the head, but again handling in the backs let the side down. Bris conceded a free kick from a scrum as their topsy-turvy scrummaging carried on from last week. Big tackles from Rik Martin-Redman and Sam Cox were holding Coventry back but their game plan was working and the driving mauls were hurting Bris.

 

Adam Billig got himself into the game once more with a good take and a good run back at the Coventry defence showing real pace. The Bris forwards were in support and the ball was spun out left with an overlap. Ollie Hodge stormed into the line but passed without looking and the ball sailed over Griffiths head and into touch. Coventry’s impressive lineout once again secured possession and they began to probe the young Bristol back line. Hayward was penalised for playing the ball on the ground and was harshly dealt with as he was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes. Luke Smith kicked the penalty. BRIS 3 – 10 COVENTRY.

 

Both sides failed to find touch from the kick-off and after a chip ahead, James Bailey was up on his man in a flash. The other Bris backs did well to support as a line and Coventry were lucky that Bristol were penalised for coming in from the side. Smith missed his touch and once again Bailey (filling in at fullback while Hayward was off the pitch) ran the ball back with real venom. A big tackle stopped him dead, but Coventry were going in over the top and Bris had another penalty which they kicked to touch just inside the Coventry half. The next period of play saw some good pressure from the Shoguns but Coventry were standing firm, before Ollie Hodge once again came into the line with a fine run breaking one tackle and showing fantastic pace. Unfortunately a knock-on stopped the move dead and Bris were once again ruing their handling errors.

 

Bristol actually seemed to be playing better with 14 men and they again attacked Coventry this time spinning it wide for the lightening James Bailey to have a go. A dangerous high tackle on the youngster saw Danny Collins sinbinned and the numbers were suddenly evened up. Bristol kicked to touch and won the lineout, but a knock-on once again conceded possession in an attacking position. Coventry cleared their lines but Bristol were straight back at them after great handling from Dodge from an untidy lineout set the Shoguns backs off on their way again. Once again a knock-on! Handling errors were starting to really hurt Bristol. Coventry were awarded another penalty on halfway and Luke Smith converted with a fantastic kick. BRIS 3 – 13 COVENTRY.

 

Coventry were straight back at Bristol from the kick-off until a chip and chase from Dodge relieved the pressure. He was up on his man in a flash and took him to ground with a great tackle. Bris were up quickly but Coventry managed to clear their lines. Saul Nelson was still struggling with his banged head incurred earlier in the match and he eventually had to go off to be replaced by Neil Clarke. It was later revealed that the ‘Admiral’ was extremely dazed throughout, not understanding lineout calls and looking very dazed.

 

Bris finished the half strongly with a strong run straight through the middle from Hayward. He passed blind behind his back to the supporting Martin-Redman, but unfortunately for Rik he just couldn’t gather. The Shoguns won the resulting scrum against the head however and Mike Hook put Hayward over in the corner for a deserved try. Hook missed the conversion but Bristol were back in the match. BRIS 8 – 13 COVENTRY.

 

Luke Smith missed a penalty for Coventry just before half time.

 

HALF TIME:

COVENTRY 13 – 8 BRISTOL SHOGUNS

 

Rik took a good clean catch from the kick-off at the start of the second half, but Mike Hook missed touch and Bris were under pressure straight away with a lineout in their own 22. Bris won their lineout and this time Hook made sure with a good touch to relieve a bit of the pressure. Coventry were straight back at the Shoguns line however with multi-phases of pick and drives. The Bristol forwards were finding it hard to live with this and the Coventry hooker eventually spotted a gap and went over. As happened last week, Bris lost the initiative early in the second half as Smith converted. BRIS 8 – 20 COVENTRY.

 

Bristol hit back turning over possession at a ruck from the restart. Hook made a great touch and Bris could exert some pressure. The Shoguns won the lineout and attacked straight through the middle but conceded a penalty with indiscipline at the breakdown. The young West Countrymen were being punished badly for the handling errors and indiscipline. Coventry kicked to the corner and Meenan stretched the Midlanders lead with a drop-goal from just outside the 22. BRIS 8 – 23 COVENTRY

 

The game was beginning to slip away alarmingly from Bristol and matters were made worse when Mike Hook kicked straight out from the restart. Coventry attacked from the scrum-back and were awarded with a penalty which the ever-reliable Smith converted, Bris were in real trouble. BRIS 8 – 26 COVENTRY

 

Hook (obviously struggling for form) found a good touch from the restart and Bris were straight onto the attack. Bris won possession and the surprise package of the season, Mike Griffiths made a great break coming in from his wing on the right to attack down the left. Unfortunately the move broke down as Bris were bundled into touch. Coventry cleared their lines.

 

Bris regained possession inside their 22 but looked in trouble when a nervous pass inside from Bailey went to ground. Dodge was alert and snapped up the ball. He made a break of real class as he waltzed inside one and outside another to ghost past 3 or 4 Coventry men from 22 to 22 before offloading to the mobile Jason Hobson who did fantastically well to support. He fed out to Bailey and nothing was stopping the young winger as he went over for a great score from nowhere. Hook’s troubles continued as he missed the conversion, but Bristol’s tails were up and the travelling support was delighted into voice! BRIS 13 – 26 COVENTRY.

 

Dodge was having an awesome game in adversity and another fine break by the vocal scrumhalf set up another promising attack. Unfortunately with a man in acres of space to his right, the substitute Neil Clarke stepped inside and the chance of an almost certain score was gone. However, Bris managed to recycle quickly and attacked down the middle. They were awarded a penalty and with plenty of time on the clock decided to kick at goal from in front of the posts. Hook duly converted and Bristol were on a real high, right back in the contest. BRIS 16 – 26 COVENTRY.

 

Some moments change the course of matches and the next 5 minutes was to take the game out of Bristols reach. Just 10 points behind and looking good for a further score, Bristol were defending their own 22 when Luke Smith cross-kicked a high ball from the left touchline to the right. Bailey was underneath the ball and focused before the Coventry right wing blatantly pushed him out the way, gathered the ball and went over. The referee either did not see the incident or chose to ignore it and the Shoguns comeback was dealt a massive blow. Smith converted to add salt to the wound. BRIS 16 – 33 COVENTRY.

 

The stuffing seemed to have been taken out of the young Bristol side and they struggled to regain the fluency that had been ignited by Dodge. The handling errors crept back in and Bris once again looked in trouble.

 

All credit to the Shoguns, they managed to regain their composure and mount another promising attack down the left. Hopes were raised when Bailey once again went on a weaving run, but he was crudely downed with yet another high tackle! Luke Smith this time was sinbinned. Bristol span the ball out in a courageous effort to drag themselves back in the game and the impressive 20 year old Jason Hobson went over in the left corner for a deserved try. Hook missed a difficult conversion from the left touchline, but it seemed to be too little too late. BRIS 21 – 33 COVENTRY.

 

Replacements were thrown on and Bris started to throw the ball around. Billig broke from his own line out to the 22 and beyond. Unfortunately the support wasn’t there and Coventry were awarded a penalty. For the last 5 minutes the Coventry pack took over and heaped more pain onto Bris with rolling maul after rolling maul. They were held up once before finally the ball was released out to the backs. Kurt Johnson the right winger took a good inside line off of Meenan (now at fly half) and crashed past Hook to drive the final nail into Bristols coffin.

 

FINAL SCORE:

COVENTRY 40 – 21 BRISTOL SHOGUNS

 

BRISTOL MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Paul Hodgson (outstanding)

 

Comment:

 

A sad result for Bristol this weekend, but a marked improvement on last Sunday. There are signs that this young squad are developing and learning. The backs look extremely dangerous going forward when spun out wide. For more multi-phase play the recycling at rucks and mauls needs to be a lot more dynamic and cleaner. The pack has been out-played by bigger forwards twice in a week now and maybe Ollie K needs to be given a chance. We need to make more of the hard yards near the gainline and our tackling could still be better. Defence of rolling mauls will once again be key next week if Otley see videos of Birmingham and Coventry. Overall though, moving in the right direction and I think that patience is needed before we see the best of our young stars. We will get better as our squad gain more league experience.

 

Coventry:

 

Meenan, Johnson, O’Shea, Martin (McClean), Richards, Smith, Chrystie, Siveter, Protherough (McMurray), Meddick (Moore), Gulliver, Campton (Hurrell), Crofts, Collins (Scott), Brady

 

Tries: Collins, Protherough, Johnson (2).

Cons: Smith (3), Meenan

Pens: Smith (3)

DG: Meenan

 

Bristol Shoguns:

 

Billig, Griffiths, Cox, Hawker (Hayward), Bailey (Bemand), Hook, Hodgson, Martin-Redman, Gerry (Styles), Morgan, Hodge (Kohn), Hunt, Hobson, Nelson (N.Clarke), Hilton (A. Clarke)

 

Sun not used: Danny Gray

 

Tries: Hayward, Bailey, Hobson

Pens: Hook (2)