Wharfedale 38 Coventry 26 by John Wilkinson.

Cov called their defeat at Blaydon two weeks earlier a wake-up call, but this was another slumbering performance

The final scoreline may suggest a reasonably close game, but in truth, Coventry were soundly beaten on another miserable away day for their travelling supporters.

Two tries in the space of two injury-time minutes gave Cov a bonus point for their troubles and, on paper, some respectability.

But by that time Wharfedale had stopped playing, their job completed some 15 minutes earlier when their fifth converted try of the day put them well out of reach.

Cov called their defeat at Blaydon two weeks earlier a wake-up call, but this was another slumbering performance against a side that showed more drive and desire, and simply did the basic things much better.

There were some mitigating circumstances. The late withdrawal of leading try scorer Will Hurrell left Cov short of replacement backs, and it was shown up when centre Luke Myring took a heavy knock to the head in the opening minutes with his subsequent withdrawal leading to an unsettling shuffle behind the scrum.

Player-coach Scott Morgan was also forced off at half-time and Cov had two hookers on the field for 20 minutes after the break when Tom Poole went off with a blood injury.

But it couldn’t all account for the way Cov were pushed about in the set scrum, the number of overthrown line-outs, the missed tackles, the wasted chances when balls were dropped over the line, or the lack of discipline which left them a man short for ten minutes when skipper Matt Tibbatts was shown a yellow card, which many felt should have been red, for fighting – just one of a number of reactions to perceived injustices.

Overall, however, although Wharfedale played the game at pace, were elusive going forward and looked a more than useful side, Cov should have come up with more answers than they did in a performance which left a lot of questions to be answered.

Cov could have been two scores down in four minutes, Tom Barrett missing a penalty chance before Wharfedale were denied a try by a forward pass, but looked to have settled when Ian Clark’s pace down the left led to a Cliffie Hodgson try and conversion.

But the lead lasted less than three minutes, Joe Donkin cutting through midfield unchecked for a try which Barrett converted, and Cov saw two clear chances go begging before the home side moved the ball from their own line for the excellent Barrett to score and convert their second try.

Cov’s response was just as swift, backs and forwards combining superbly for Barry Davies to score and Hodgson converting, but the balance moved firmly in Wharfedale’s favour as Aaron Myers and then Rob Baldwin claimed converted tries in a four-minute burst to send them into the break 28-14 up.

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