Cov take the spoils despite Stevenson hat-trick

DESPITE a 24-minute second-half hat-trick from London Scottish wing Rob Stevenson, Coventry continued their impressive home run with a tight bonus point success.

The hosts outscored the Exiles by five tries to four, but after building a 19-3 interval advantage with a strong wind at their backs, were forced to dig deep in injury time as the visitors battled their way back into the match thanks to Stevenson’s heroics.

Coventry rugby director Rowland Winter hailed his team’s resilience, which delivered a third win in four starts at the Butts Park Arena, after a below-par effort at Richmond last Saturday.

Winter said: “We got more than just a performance, we got a response from the boys and they put in a massive shift, exactly what we asked for.

“We worked incredibly hard and the conditions today made it tough. Our good start just about got our noses in front, then we managed to hold on.”

Coventry took an early lead when Jake Sharp’s nicely delayed pass sent Tony Fenner to the corner, and increased it to 12 points when some slick handling freed Pete White to race to the posts for a try which Sharp converted.

Scottish fly-half Rory Jennings then put his team on the board with a simple penalty, only for a powerful Sam Tuitupou carry to create the position from which the home forwards eventually drove newlysigned lock Alex Woolford over.

This left the visitors chasing a 16-point interval deficit, which with the advantage of the elements they soon cut by seven

thanks to Jennings’ conversion of Mark Bright’s try.

With their tails now up, the visitors closed to within four points shortly before the end of the third quarter when Stevenson forced his way over following a scrum won against the head.

Replacement Scott Tolmie then clinched a home bonus point from close range, before pacy winger Max Trimble exploited a Scottish handling error to race over from 70m for what seemed certain to be the matchclinching score.

However, the visitors had other ideas, and when they drove a 5m attacking lineout infield, a quick reverse pass allowed Stevenson to cross unopposed in the left corner.

And when the winger repeated the dose deep into injury time, the home fans were sentenced to a nervy closing two minutes until referee Hamish Smales’ whistle delivered five very welcome points.