Dolly at double as Cov hit big six to see off Reds

COVENTRY took the spoils six tries to three in this preseason outing that featured plenty of running rugby.

Jersey made the best possible start with some attacks straight from the kick-off and before too long Brendan Owen ran a powerful direct line close to the post with just three minutes on the clock.

The Reds’ lead was doubled to 14 points with as many minutes gone. A powerful maul made ground inside the Cov 22 and the ball was spun wide to Ryan Hutler who raced through to the posts.

Cov got back into it just before the ‘quarter-time’ water-break when Nic Dolly went over from a maul.

Impressive back row linkage from Cov saw skipper Ryan Burrows find Tom Ball for a run to the posts but a straightforward conversion hit the post to leave Cov trailing 10-14.

The Reds went over from a maul as half-time approached, with Tim Grey scoring from close range and Brendan Cope added a magnificent conversion from the touchline.

Cov had the last word before the break as Dolly crossed again from close range to make it 17-21.

The tempo remained high in the second period in spite of a raft of changes, and the visitors stretched their lead when Bader Pretorius crossed within ten minutes of making his debut after some good build-up play from Zei Alexis.

After Rob Knox pulled one back for the home side, Cov then took lead for the first time with the best score of the game, featuring some excellent interplay down the left flank culminating in Tom Emery going over in the corner.

The Reds crossed for a fifth try from a scrum to retake the lead, with Tim Grey picking up and feeding Josh Bainbridge for the try which Pretorius converted.

But the home side were back in front when Knox took an interception in midfield and raced 50 metres to score, an easy conversion making it 34-33.

Cov pressed for another try but stout Jersey defence kept them out.