West Wales Match Report

Depleted Bears face inevitable result.

West Wales Raiders 44 Coventry Bears 16

Coventry Bears were without eight key players as they traveled to the tip of Wales to play a team eager to gain an otherwise elusive win.

That both teams featured players who had once played for the the other added some spice to the occasion.

The Welsh side were in a determined mood from the start as after just six minutes Dalton Desmond-Walker opened the scoring.

His try was followed by Ash Bateman and then Morgan Evans crossing over, the latter after a particularly good move which split the Bears defence.

The Bears then had to dig deep and defend well to stop this becoming a rout.

This they did until Steve Parkinson again split the Bears line to oitcteam-mate Archie Snooks over the line.

Twenty points down at half time did not augur well for the Bears, but they came out with more spirit and Reece Rance put them on the score sheet with a well worked try. Sanderson, back in action, made good with the conversion, and a comeback looked possible.

That was until the Raiders again turned up the heat and a succession of four tries was the result, with one being from erstwhile Bear Mitch Shaw.

The Bears still weren't finished as Errol Carter, and young Welshman Cobi Green each added a try.

But it was too little too late, and just as the Bears have had some great days and great victories this season, then this game belonged to the Raiders, the better side on the day.

'The injuries to so many players really cost us today, but there are no League games this weekend so it gives us breathing space to recover and get back together as a team before we play Keighley at Webb Ellis Road in Rugby'