Maynard warns Cov must take chances at Birmingham & Solihull

PHIL Maynard has warned his side they cannot be as wasteful when they meet Bees this weekend as they were when they last played the Solihull outfit. Coventry resume their relegation play-off campaign at Sharmans Cross Road on Sunday looking to reverse the 22-18 defeat they suffered at home to the same opponents a couple of weeks ago.

Even though they set the record straight by beating Moseley in their following match, the fact they could – and arguably should – have won both of their local derbies still rankles at Butts Park Arena.

Cov dominated Bees in terms of territory and possession that day and will look to do the same in the rematch.

However, more often than not, without a consistent place-kicker they failed to finish off their good work and have yet to recover from the effects of that loss.

Cov know they will be in the mire with just two games left if they are defeated by Russell Earnshaw’s men.

Which is why Maynard not only talks of this derby being a ‘must win’ but also of the fact his side have to be more clinical.

“The lesson we took from that first game is that we didn’t show Bees enough respect,” the rugby director admitted.

“We are in must-win territory with these games and the Bees are a dangerous side, of that there is no doubt.”

Birmingham & Solihull went down fighting in a 29-19 defeat to Rotherham at the weekend.

Maynard added: “They are playing attacking rugby and we will have to pay due diligence to that. They are always looking for space and taking full advantage of it, they found a lot against Rotherham but then Rotherham played very differently to the way they played against us.

“We created a number of chances in the last game but didn’t take them. If we had taken half the chances we had made we would have won comfortably and we have to learn that you must take your points when they are on offer.

“These play-offs have proved it is all about what happens on the day, as I suggested it would in the first place.”

Maynard has written off Ben Pons and Richie Bignell for the rest of the season but is pondering a back row of Henno Venter, Alex Shaw and Aaron Carpenter.