Coventry 38 Cinderford 13 by John Wilkinson

Cov have best start to campaign for almost ten years... Maximum points and top spot in the fledgling National League One table after two games.

The gloves are barely off, but expectations are starting to rise after Coventry’s best start to a season since the 2004-05 campaign.

Two wins from two games, 11 tries, maximum points and top spot in the fledgling National League One table – their success-starved supporters could not have asked for more.

It was difficult to fault Saturday’s performance at Butts Park Arena.

The forwards had dismantled the Cinderford scrum by the middle of the third quarter, backed up by a line-out display that was much improved from the opening game at Hull Ionians.

And the backs were hugely impressive as they confirmed that they have the pace and the power to provide the cutting edge in attack that has been lacking in the last two seasons.

But for a couple of dropped passes with the line beckoning, Cov might have scored a few more points, and two yellow cards on either side of half time – a second in as many weeks for Danny Wright, which looked a fair decision, and one for James Otutaha which seemed extremely harsh – could have been costly.

But even when down to 13 men Cov remained solid in defence and extended their lead before they were back up to numerical strength – Cinderford only able to break through on the final whistle with a counter from their own 22.

Cliffie Hodgson and Mark Davies exchanged penalties in the first seven minutes before Cov moved up a gear.

Barry Davies – whose cultured left foot offers a valuable addition to the kicking of Hodgson and Will Maisey – was denied a try by a forward pass after a powerful break between Rob Nash and Otutaha, but Lewis Barker forced a mistake at the back of the resulting Cinderford scrum and Tom Poole pounced when the ball went loose to claim the opening try.

Hodgson converted before adding the extras seven minutes later when Maisey touched down between the posts following a bulldozing run through midfield by man-of-the-match Will Hurrell with Tim Ryan and Barker in support.

Mark Davies kicked a second penalty on the stroke of half-time to keep Cinderford in touch at 17-6 with Wright in the sin bin, but Cov returned from the break full of purpose and Jacques Le Roux, whose strong running had the opposition on the back foot all game, crossed off the back of a scrum with Hodgson converting.

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