Coventry Bears

Coventry Bears ground out one of the best wins in their ten year history in Birmingham on Saturday.

The Bears have never lost to the Bulldogs at first team level and many people thought that that proud record would be lost against a resurgent Birmingham outfit that is challenging for minor premiership honours. The Coventry rugby league team are having a torrid time with a string of injuries and too often this season have disappointed when they have fallen behind on the scoreboard.

With the return from Northern Ireland of player coach Alan Robinson, the Bears showed a spirit that was as good as anything they have ever displayed in the past.

Coventry showed their aggressive spirit with two consecutive sets of six in the opening minutes of the game. Coventry skipper Rich Whitehouse found himself isolated and with quick thinking took a snap drop at goal and the fullback was rewarded with a point for his efforts.

5 minutes later a penalty to the home side gave them a 2-1 advantage.

The Bears pressed forward down the steeply sloping pitch. But despite their efforts the Bulldogs resolutely defended their line. On the half hour Coventry centre Ben Shepard finally restored the Bears lead with a try that was converted by Luke Horan.

The Birmingham side were again exposed when winger James Horrucks went in in the corner.

At 13 -2 in the lead the Bears suddenly started to struggle. Some poor defending let the Bulldogs claim two quick converted tries to see them go in to the half time break with a 14-13 advantage.

Coach Alan Robinson stressed to his side that the game was there for the winning.

“I told them that they should not let their heads drop, The Brummies had been hard pressed in defence and that effort would cost them dear late in the second half. Just play out your sets of six and it will come good” said Robinson after the game.

His words appeared to have been in vain as the Bulldogs used the slope to their advantage and again the Coventry defence was found wanting. In the next 20 minutes Birmingham increased their lead to 24 points to 13.

At this point the Bears would have folded on past performances, but they bounced back in the best possible fashion. Tanaka Chamunakara at dummy half picked the ball up and scooted through an almost nonexistent gap and evaded the Birmingham forward pack. He raced through 20 metres into the Bulldogs half and found himself with just the fullback to beat. A neat side step and he was away to score under the posts. The home side were suddenly rattled and when given the opportunity to add two penalty points they quickly did so.

Robinson sensing that the game was on a knife edge asked for a short kick off. Loose forward Matt Cooper shot out of his own half to collect the ball which had travelled the necessary 10 metres. He broke through and raced for the line leaving a trail of defenders in his wake.

With 15 minutes left on the clock the Bears were only 3 points adrift.

Now it was Birmingham’s turn to be shocked as Tom O’Toole twice scored in the right hand corner and gave the Cov side a 5 point lead.

The next few minutes were nail biting as the Bears tried to curtail Birmingham’s desperate attempt to rescue the game. At a scrum a differential penalty was awarded to the Bears and being unable to kick for goal the visitors were obliged to run the ball. With the number of tackles fast running out the Bears appeared to be going nowhere and the ball was thrown around in hope rather than expectation. A desperate lobbed ball on the last tackle from Robinson went out to Luke Horan, he scooped the ball through his own legs behind to the wing where Ben Shepard collected it broke through the shocked Birmingham defence and dived into the corner to win the game.

Luke Horan’s conversion was the last act in a remarkable game.

Skipper Rich Whitehouse speaking after the game said “Last week we turned the corner on our season. Although we lost that game we knew that a win would follow, we knew we should have beaten Leicester and it was then we knew that we need fear no one in this league”

Final Score

Birmingham Bulldogs 26 Coventry Bears 37

Coventry Team

R Whitehouse, T. Chamunakara, B. Hands, B.Shephard, T. O’Toole, S. Montague, A. Marshall, R. Jenkins, C. Southwell,A. Robinson, S. Stubbs, A. Jarvis, M. Cooper, L. Horan, ,J Hird, J. Horrucks, P Hurst.

Coventry tries

Shepard (2) O’Toole (2) Chamunokara,

Whitehouse, Cooper

Conversions Horan (4)

Drop Goal Whitehouse

Coventry Man of the Match Ben Shepard

Earlier Coventry Bears Academy secured a 24 points all draw against the Bulldogs second string.