Patience pays for Coventry with Tolmie double

TWO fourth-quarter tries from replacement hooker Scott Tolmie plus Tony Fenner’s nerveless 78th minute touchline conversion saw Coventry to a battling 18-17 success.

In the process, Cov recorded their fifth home win since being promoted back to the second flight at the end of last season and continued their progress towards mid-table security.

Pirates led 17-6 at the hour mark through four Javier Alvarez penalties and Kyle Moyle’s try before the hosts took advantage of the visitors’ mounting penalty count, which resulted in the loss of two forwards to the sin-bin, to snatch victory.

Home DoR Rowland Winter felt his team got its just rewards for their patient approach in difficult underfoot conditions and intermittent rain.

He said: “Today was about being pretty boring and being efficient and outpirating the Pirates – as they play efficient, sensible rugby.

“It wasn’t really a running game so it was always going to come down to accuracy at set piece. We weren’t there for the majority of the game as there were lots of errors, but we got there in the end. We really needed that win – in truth probably more than the Pirates did.”

Try-scoring opportunities were few and far between in a first 30 minutes during which home No.10 Will Maisey and his opposite number Alvarez shared four penalty goals.

But soon after the Argentinian fly half ’s third penalty edged the visitors ahead, they exploited a powerful Sam Matavesi carry to send Moyle over in the corner.

Alvarez’s fourth successful penalty extended the Pirates’ third-quarter

advantage to 11 points, but thereafter it was the blueand-whites that turned the tide and ground out victory.

The first sign of the turnaround came when the visitors lost flanker Josh Caulfield to the sinbin for his team’s persistent offending and Cov’s pack powered Tolmie over from the ensuing lineout.

The visitors appeared to have weathered the storm and be on their way to a valuable away win when another sequence of penalties saw Brett Beukeboom sinbinned five minutes from time.

And the Butts Park Arena was sent into rhapsodies of delight when Tolmie’s repeat performance was capped off by Fenner’s superb strike from the kicking tee.

“It was just one of those gut-wrenchers,” Pirates joint head coach Gavin Cattle said. “Our penalty count was in the second half was around 11, which tells a story in itself.”