Bears 16 Doncaster 34 - Betfred League 1, Round 8

COVENTRY BEARS 16
DONCASTER RLFC 34

Mike Hyde, Butts Park Arena, Sunday 27th June 2021

There was a definite game of two halves with a comprehensive Bears first half followed by a dominant Dons performance in the second.

Most onlookers deemed the first 40 minutes to be the most comprehensive performance of a Bears side in the pro game.

Accurate passing, speed, tackling, offloading, a variety of moves and an aerial bombardment of precision kicking left the visitors in a state of shock for forty minutes.

But then the Dons came out for the second half, big, brutish, rough and tough.

This was not vintage rugby but it did the job against the bruised Bears.

Doncaster kicked off, but the Bears were soon on the attack, and a testing kick on the last tackle from Dave Scott bounced awkwardly and Reece Rance pounced on the ball in the right hand corner to put the home side 4-0 up.

Bears continued to put pressure on the Dons coming close to the line on a succession of plays with the visitors unable to find any rhythm.

There was some quality play from the bears; offloading, slick passing, good tackling and positioning which made them look more like the promotion contenders.

Another breakthrough came as Dave Scott pieced the Doncaster line and sprinted diagonally to put the ball down between the posts, Dan Coates adding the extras.

On 22 minutes, the Dons hauled themselves back into the game after sustained pressure and Misi Taulapapa powered over with Matty Beharrell adding two more points.

A superb 40 20 from Coates put the Bears back on the offensive and soon after, Dave Scott added his second of the afternoon, Coates adding two more.

A missed penalty for the Bears was followed by a try from Aaron York and A Beharrell conversion to give a slender 4 point margin at half time in favour of the

The second half began with the Dons showing more determination and Matty Beharrell scored the first try and duly added two more to put the visitors into the lead for the first time

The Bears were not lying down and only a wild last pass prevented their regaining the lead after a flowing movement on the left.

There then followed a tense, evenly matched spell with both teams making the odd mistake and being unable to gain any momentum, and at times the frustration led to tempers being lost.

Jason Tali’s dangerously high tackle looked like a one way ticket to the sin bin at the very least, but the mildest of ticking offs was all that he received.

‘Playing against 14’ was the reaction as other brutal tackles were allowed, together with some other borderline decisions going the way of the visitors.

The stalemate was ended controversially with a dropped ball being scooped up by Tali, despite the appeals of the Bears who were certain it had gone forward.. Two further points from Beharell made it 18-24.

With seven minutes to go, the visitors broke through to consolidate their lead, with Brandon Douglas scoring and another successful conversion following.

Tom Halliday competed the try scoring for the visitors, no conversion, but in the end the statistics show this to be a comeback and comprehensive performance from the promotion chasing Dons.

But the Bears fans, growing again in numbers, will be thinking of that first half, and hoping that performance can be repeated for 80 minutes next Sunday against Hunslet.

MATCHFACTS

COVENTRY BEARS

1 Nathan Hill

2 Elliot Watts

3 Matty Welham

4 Liam Welham

23 Reece Rance

7 Dan Coates

6 Dave Scott

14 Josh Dunne

18 Elliott Windley

22 Brad Clavering

11 Jed Charlton

16 Sam Bowring

12 Kieran Sherratt

Subs (all used)

21 Harry Kaufman

25 Jack Dawson

19 Brad Ho

13 Ryan Langton

Tries: Rance(2), Scott(18,28)

Goals: Coates 2/3

DONCASTER RLFC

27 Misi Taulapapa

18 Tom Halliday

3 Sam Smerton

4 Jason Tali

32 Oliver Greensmith

1 Ben Johnston

7 Matty Beharrell

15 Ryan Boyle

19 Aaron Ollett- Hobson

16 Brandon Wilkinson

23 Liam Johnson

11 Danny Bravo

12 Brad foster

Subs (all used)

10 Brandon Douglas

22 Alec Holdstock

20 Ben Howe

27 Aaron York

Tries: Taulapapa (22), York (39), Bharrell(43), Tali(62,) Douglas(73), Halliday(79)

Goals: Beharrell 5/6

Man of the Match

Coventry Bears: Dave Scott

Penalty count: 8-7

Half-time: 16-12

Referee: K. Moore

Attendance: 275

SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 10-6, 16-6, 16-12;16-18, 16-24, 16-30, 16-34