Coventry RFC 34 Blaydon 15

Buoyant Coventry laid another jinx to rest with their first victory over Blaydon in four seasons as they extended their winning run to 14 games.

And although it took them until the dying minutes, this time it came with a four-try bonus point – Sam Pailor’s stunning 40-metre charge ensuring that Cov lost no more ground on leaders Ealing in the National League One title race.

It was a job well done by Cov in a difficult wind and against a Blaydon side that, in the past, has consistently caused problems with their forward-based game and was still very much in contention approaching the hour mark.

After conceding a try inside the opening minute, Cov worked hard to take a slender 14-12 advantage into the second half before going behind again in the third quarter to an Andrew Baggett penalty.

Cov then turned down three simple points and came away with nothing after several minutes pressing the Blaydon line, but if they were guilty of impatience in their desire to settle for nothing less than maximum points, they had the confidence and maturity to stick to their guns which eventually brought its reward,

In the end, Cov were well on top and they underlined their eventual superiority by taking a scrum against the head midway through the final quarter – testimony to a strong performance by the pack who scrummaged well all game and, with Roan van Heerden a constant nuisance, crucially nullified Blaydon’s potent line-out catch-and-drive.

A crowd of 1,938 – Cov’s best since they have been in this division – was stunned when Blaydon returned a poor clearance kick with interest and put Chris Wearmouth over in the right corner after just 38 seconds.

Baggett failed to convert, and Cov posted an instant reply when Will Hurrell – a problem for Blaydon all afternoon with his rampaging runs – burst through the middle to set up a try between the posts for Dom Lespierre which Matt Jones converted.

Lespierre then covered back to deny Blaydon a second try from a kick ahead when Cov lost possession on halfway before claiming his own second try on the back of a storming break by Rob Knox, Jones converting from wide out on the right, with Cov down to 14 men following a yellow card for Matt Price.

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