RUGBY UNION: PROMOTION chasing Coventrians overcame a disappointing opening half to defeat Harbury 15-30.
Harbury’s loss dropped them to eighth while Coventrians secured their spot in second place in the Midlands 4 West (South) division, pulling three points clear of third placed Burbage.
A number of injuries and some poor defensive work cost Harbury, though they were left frustrated after leading the majority of the game.
The home side took an early lead through Ricky Alford’s penalty kick before Coventrians struck back with an unconverted try.
Harbury, whose pack were dominant in the sets, put pressure on the visitors’ line and on an opposition scrum they forced their way over as Tom Kittendorf touched down. The conversion was added by Alford to regain the lead.
Harbury lost their outside half Mark Anderson to injury and were forced to reshuffle their backs with Alford moving to the number ten position.
A further try from a set piece saw Ricky Bearman cross over, this time though the conversion was missed as Harbury led deservedly 15-7 at half time.
A poor start to the second half saw Harbury knock on Coventrians’ kick.
From the scrum, the backs were penalised for offside. Coventrians opted to kick and reduced the gap to five points.
Harbury then lost Dan Shinkwin to injury before a yellow card reduced the side to 14 men.
Coventrians needed no second invitation to take advantage of the extra man and open up a two point lead, to which they quickly added a penalty to lead 20-15.
Two unconverted tries followed as Coventrians earned themselves a bonus point win.
Harbury now have a three week break before their match away to Pershore on January 13 where they hope to welcome several players back from injury.
