By Steve Kimberley
October 30 2023

Week Two saw all matches, unusually, played on Saturday.

And once again, form expectations were probably met, with the only question mark being whether Cornish Pirates or Bedford would come away with the spoils. Bedford duly answered that one, though, with a thoroughly well-deserved four points away from home, with the hosts picking up a bonus from the 18-20 final scoreline. The Cornish crowd figure must be seen as slightly disappointing however, with 1414 turning out - and no doubt a good smattering of those having travelled from the East Midlands.

Hartpury welcomed top of the table Ealing, and certainly didn't disgrace themselves, not allowing the visitors get out of sight at any point, and will be annoyed at having missed out on a bonus point at 28-36, with Ealing bagging six tries to the home side's three. 486 witnessed proceedings.

Cambridge's first home Championship match ever drew 1308 spectators, most of whom probably hoped for much better than a nine-try pummelling from visitors Doncaster. Two converted tries gave the home fans little to cheer about in the 14-61 defeat. It could be a long, hard season for the Blood and Sand.

Nottingham continued their fine start to the season with a 48-21 seven try win over Ampthill at Lady Bay. The visitors secured the bonus with four tries, but will certainly have hoped for more. An underwhelming 979 turned up to witness the meeting.

Coventry, regular slow starters, finally got their chance to show what they were capable of, although the slow start trait was definitely in evidence with the first half providing some concern among the regulars around the Butts Park Arena.

However, a late Kvesic try put some gloss on the half-time scoreline, before Alex Rae swung into action making several changes which kicked the home side firmly into gear.

A dominant second half display then saw Caldy reduced to virtual also rans, unable to add to their early score, while Cov ran in five tries to finish with a 45-5 victory in front of the biggest crowd of the day (and the season, so far) of 2611.

The five points garnered handily lifted Cov into fifth place in the table, with a game in hand on all those around them.

Ampthill now await, and Cov will need to be at full strength in Bedfordshire next Saturday if they are to maintain their charge. The Dillingham Park 'Mob' are notoriously tough to overcome on their own patch, but Cov will possibly recall the trip to Hartpury last season when they travelled in hope, but left in despair. Let's hope they've benefitted from that experience?

Ealing: Played 2, Points 10

Nottingham: 2, 10

Doncaster: 2, 9

Ampthill: 2, 6

Coventry: 1, 5

C. Pirates: 2, 5

Bedford: 2, 4

Cambridge: 2, 2

Hartpury: 2, 1

Caldy: 2, 1

L. Scottish: 1, 0

Week Two: Cov Join In

Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 30/10/2023 13:10

Unofficial Coventry Rugby
30/10/2023 13:10

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:11:07:19:46:59 by Kimbo.

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Cov kid 42
30/10/2023 14:53

Steve


Cov obtained the double over Ampthill last season. 26 - 24 at the BPA, 45 - 21 on the Mobs patch. It was only the second win there, the first in the league.


JB

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Cov kid 42
30/10/2023 14:55

Humble apologies Steve, misread your posting which I now see was reference to Hartpury.

JB

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Old Faithful
30/10/2023 19:33

Thanks for those reports again Steve.

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