Bears 12 Workington Town 30 - Betfred League 1, Round 6
Coventry Bears 12 Workington Town 30
Sometimes, the scoreboard only tells part of the story.
While the better team did leave the Butts Park Arena with the win on Sunday, the Bears can be proud of their efforts against a well-drilled, clinical side that is gunning for promotion.
In parts, the Bears were dominant, forcing repeat sets and camping on the Workington line - just unable to get over and score. In particular for the final ten minutes of the first half, and the opening ten of the second, it looked for all the world that the hosts would score what would have been an equalising try.
But, it wasn’t to be, and Town pulled away in the final quarter of the match.
Aside from facing a side at the top of the table, there were plenty of factors conspiring against the Bears going into this one. Joint-top try scorer Nathan Hill had already been ruled out after suffering a mild concussion against Crusaders last week, and they then lost captain Liam Welham in the warm-up on doctor’s advice.
That meant a reshuffle of an already reshuffled backline, with Kieran Sherratt and Sam Bowring in the centres and Jack Dawson on the wing - and that’s before even factoring in the weather! It was hot - the Butts was sun-drenched and sweaty even before the game had started.
Workington opened the scoring after just three minutes, when Jacob Moore sliced through the Bears defence before slipping the ball inside to Hanley Dawson, who strolled in under the posts.
A tough start for the hosts was made harder six minutes later when Chris Cullimore was sin-binned for a late tackle. From the resulting field position, Town hooker Declan O'Donnell thought he'd scored after gathering Jamie Doran's clever grubber, but he was offside.
That bit of luck seemed to spark the home side into life, who started to dominate possession despite being a player down. They deservedly got over the line in the 16th minute with Sherratt - now moved again to fill in for Cullimore - burrowing over from dummy half for his third try of the season.
The pendulum swung back in Town's favour three minutes later, when fullback Ethan Bickerdike dropped his hips and cut through the Bears defence to spring in from halfway.
That score seemed to galvanise the Bears again, and they set about dominating the game for the rest of the half. But, despite consistent pressure and some creative last-tackle plays, they weren't ever able to get the score their efforts merited.
The Bears continued their good form into the second half with another period of sustained pressure and great tempo thanks to the probing runs of debutant Elliott Windley and the constant creative threat of Dave Scott. Darius Hamilton also impressed in his first appearance of the season - bringing pace and power to the pack - while Peter Ryan, Elliot Townsend, and Jed Charlton all put in big shifts in the oppressive heat.
But, crucially they were again unable to score and Town made them pay in the 54th minute. Bradley Holroyd spotted a gap, skipped past the dog-legged Bears defence and ran in from halfway.
Town made sure of a hard-earned win six minutes later, again through the influential Holroyd. This time, the try was all of his own making - a clever kick that he gathered himself to score.
With a healthy points cushion, the visitors began a period of dominance themselves, and almost scored again three minutes later. Again, O'Donnell chased a Doran grubber, but the ball squirmed out of the mulletted hooker's grasp.
Shortly after that, Stevie Scholey seemed certain to crash over, but was somehow held up with a quite terrific tackle from Matty Welham.
Unsurprisingly given the conditions, the last ten minutes were a hot mess as both teams' error count increased. Forber gathered a Moore pass to put a final gloss on Town's afternoon with five minutes to go, before Brad Ho powered over from close range with a minute left to give the Bears the final say - and bag his first try in Coventry colours.
Not the result the Bears wanted, but a vast improvement on last week’s performance. And, with another home game next week where they will hopefully be bolstered by a few returning players, there are plenty of positives to take.
MATCHFACTS
COVENTRY BEARS
3 Matty Welham
25 Jack Dawson
12 Kieran Sherratt
16 Sam Bowring
23 Reece Rance
7 Dan Coates
6 Dave Scott
8 Peter Ryan
9 Chris Cullimore
15 Josh Dunne
11 Jed Charlton
14 Elliot Townsend
19 Brad Ho
Subs (all used)
18 Elliott Windley
22 Stefanos Bastas
21 Harry Kaufman
10 Darius Hamilton
Tries: Sherratt (16), Ho (79)
Goals: Coates 2/2
Sinbin: Cullimore (8) - late tackle
WORKINGTON TOWN
24 Ethan Bickerdike
2 Bradley Holroyd
31 Joseph Brown
4 Calvin Wellington
5 Alex Young
6 Jamie Doran
7 Carl Forber
8 Conor Fitzsimmons
9 Declan O'Donnell
10 Stevie Scholey
16 Jacob Moore
12 Caine Barnes
13 Hanley Dawson
Subs (all used)
23 Matthew Henson
33 Rhys Clarke
17 Jonathan Goulding
25 Jake Lightowler
Tries: Dawson (3), Bickerdike (19), Holroyd (54, 60), Forber (75)
Goals: Forber 5/5
Bears man of the match: Kieran Sherratt
Penalty count: 7-5
Half-time: 6-12
Referee: Tom Crashley
Attendance: 198
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 6-12, 6-18, 6-24, 6-30, 12-30