Bears will aim to improve – despite opening with win
BOTH teams need improvement on this error-strewn showing as Coventry Bears opened the season with a 28-4 win at home against West Wales Raiders
The smart new strips sported by both teams could not hide a litany of forward passes, fumbles and sloppiness.
The Bears kicked off, but it was the Raiders team with ten debutants that was soon pressing in the early encounters. But they were held up by a Coventry defence which remained resolute throughout the game.
It was from defence that Coventry scored their first breakaway try as Hayden Freeman sprinted 80 yards to touch down. Newman’s conversion made it 6-0.
A few minutes later Freeman intercepted and this time ran 100 yards to touch down and in retrospect seal the game, with the extras again being added.
But the Raiders were not in the mood to give in and continued to give it their all, showing spirit and determination, but unable to convert this into points.
Meanwhile the Bears were unable to convert their superiority into more points, squandering chances with basic mistakes.
The Bears were best on the break, and the third try was similar to the first two, only this time Elliott Hall left the Raiders standing as he ran 75 yards to line up Newman for his third conversion of the afternoon.
He almost added a couple more in the death throes of the first half but his free-kick fell short.
The second half started much the same as the first, with the Raiders appearing the stronger team as both sides battled hard.
But the Raiders were still unable to beat the strong Coventry defence, who once again broke away with Jacob Jones putting in a good run before crashing over on the left. And once more the two points followed.
Although the Bears had been unable to score from close in, the final try of the afternoon broke that mould, with a long flowing move taking the ball from left to right, culminating in Dante Morley Samuels try on the left wing, with the angle being a little too acute for the inform Newman.
The game was pretty much over now and it entered into another soggy, error-strewn spell.
However the Raiders were clearly not wanting to be nilled on their first outing of 2019, and their reward came in the 72nd minute as Rowland Kaye scored for the visitors to set the score at 28-4, a vast improvement over the 66-4 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Bears last Season.
For Bears coach Tom Tsang it was a welcome win, but a game on which they as much as their visitors will need to build on.