Bears 46 Hunslet 44 - Betfred League 1, Round 9
COVENTRY BEARS 46
HUNSLET RLFC 44
[half time 10-28]
Mike Hyde, Butts Park Arena, Sunday 4TH July 2021
A truly sensational comeback saw Coventry Bears snatch victory in a 90 point thriller where they had trailed from the tenth to the 79th minute.
Reporting on Bears games has not been easy over the years; after all, there are only so many ways to eulogise about a defeat.
On a couple of occasions I’ve resorted to cliché’s about a Cricket score [against the Bears], but I never believed I would see a Basketball scoreline, especially one where the Bears won at the very end.
Put simply, this has to have been the best game yet seen at the Butts Park Arena, [which is what I wrote about the victory over Rochdale only a few weeks ago.] These Bears are going places and are great to watch.
Hunslet kicked off, but Coventry Bears were soon pressing into Hunslet’s half and a run by Dave Scott gained over 30 yards on the right, then the ball was silkily passed out over to the left and Elliott Wallis scored the first try of the afternoon, but no more points were added. Still, its always nice to score first and be in the lead, even if that lead doesn’t last……
Sure enough, it was Hunslet who were in the lead just six minutes later as Vila Halafihi scored a classic hooker’s try from five yards out, ably converted by Dom Brambini. That lead had gone, lasting barely five minutes.
Ever dangerous, Halafihi was pivotal in his sides second try delivering a precision grubber kick into the path of Matty Chrimes and Brambini was successful with the conversion. Not such a promising start now.
But the Bears tried to get back into the game and battering ram Clavering was held over the line and another promising move broke down with a pass too long and too hot to handle.
Finally, after some pressure and several close in attacks, Jack Dawson crossed over on the left wing and this time Dave Scott’s conversion put the scores at 10-12.
Hunslet, cheered on by a vociferous group of supporters, fought back hard and some strong running took then half the length of the pitch in two moves before Alex Brown powerfully sprinted over on the left, and Brambini converted. The visitors weren’t having the Midland upstarts get away with scoring uncontested.
And it was Alex Brown who scored the next try in identical fashion to his first, but this time there was no conversion. They were inexorably edging away from the Bears.
Bradley Hey was next over for the visitors from close range and the successful conversion gave them a good half term lead of 10-28, a deficit requiring three tries and three conversions to pull back, assuming the visitors had ceased their seemingly effortless scoring. Mission impossible.
So what could the Bears do now, at this rate they would do well to avoid cricket style headlines like ‘Half-century Hunslet hold sway over plucky Bears’.
I know this as I write those headlines, and always like to say something positive about the Bears, even in defeat. Little did I realise that ‘plucky’ would be eclipsed by an altogether different lexicon…..
The second half started in bright sunshine, and Hunslet appeared to have lost none of their determination, but a forward pass let them down in the first minute of the half.
Lewis Young scored next, running the width, yes width of the pitch evading the Coventry defence before lurching forwards over the Bears line, leaving the hapless defenders as onlookers. This was not going well now, seemingly their opponents could pretty well score at will.
But it was not completely over for the Bears as Liam Welham ‘s burrowing try and Scott’s conversion pulled them back into the game.
Hunslet’s response was swift and decisive as Halifahi dummied before passing to Chrimes for his second try of the encounter.
Stout defending by the visitors saw a threat from Elliot Wallis extinguished as he was bundled off the pitch a yard short of the try line.
Chris Cullimore replied for the Bears after a rapid burst of pressure and the conversion followed to narrow the gap once more.
But Hunslet’s Matty Chrimes was not going to allow a comeback as he scored his third try of the afternoon, slicing through the home defence, again duly converted. At 44 points with twenty minutes to go, that half century again looked on the cards.
This was now like Basketball, one side gets some points, then the other, then again, then again, end to end…..score, end to end….score.
But all this was doing, however exciting, was maintaining the status quo.
But something was brewing, and the home fans were simmering.
Coventry would not lie down and the complexion of the game changed as Dawson crossed over for a try, the gap was narrowed, but what if Hunslet bounce straight back again? 28-44
Then Dave Scott romped over for the Bears with Coates converting. Was something special about to happen? 34-44
Could Bears fans honestly believe that their team was going to pull back further, let alone draw, or win, surely not, but maybe, just maybe……
The heavens opened, adding to the drama.
And then Dawson was over again just two minutes later. We were witnessing something special. The Bears were now the unstoppable force that so many opponents have been over the years. 40-44
Finally true-blue Bear Kiean Sherratt crossed to even the scores, 44-44. Maybe a draw was a fair result?
And then the cucumber-cool conversion from Dan Coates clinched it with a minute remaining. 46-44.
The Bears fans were ecstatic.
The Hunslet fans were quiet.
The hooter sounded.
Magnificent, rampant, majestic, determined, powerful; so many words could be used about today, a day that will last long in the memory of everyone who was there. Come on you Bears!
MATCHFACTS
COVENTRY BEARS
1 Nathan Hill
2 Elliot Wallis
4 Liam Welham
3 Matty Welham
23 Reece Rance
6 Dave Scott
7 Dan Coates
8 Josh Dunne
9 Chris Cullimore
22 Brad Clavering
11 Jed Charlton
25 Jack Dawson
12 Kieran Sherratt
Subs (all used)
13 Ryan Langton
19 Brad Ho
15 William Budd
17 Elliott Townsend
Tries: Wallis(4), Dawson(20, 59, 63), LWelham(49) Cullimore[53) Scott(65), Sherratt (79)
Goals: 7/8
HUNSLET RLFC
25 Lewis Young
20 Wayne Reittie
3 Will Cooke
5 Matty Chrimes
27 Alex Brown
6 Simon Brown
7 Dom Brambini
15 Alex Rowe
9 Vila Halifahi
10 Harry Kidd
11 Brad Hey
12 Duane Straugheir
16 Mikey Wood
Subs (all used)
14 Nathan Conroy
17 Lewis Wrey
24 Sion Jones
17 Lewis Wray
Tries: Halifahi (10), chrimes (14,53, 65), Alex Brown, (26,33), Hey(38)Young(43),
Goals: 6/8
Penalty count: 10-9
Half-time: 10-28
Referee: Bradley Milligan
Attendance: 255
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 4-6, 4-12, 10-12, 10-18, 10-22, 10-28; 10-34, 16-34, 16-38, 22-38, 22-44, 28-44, 34-44, 40-44, 46-44