Nottingham Outlaws 26 Coventry Bears 18
Coventry Bears went down narrowly to a spirited Nottingham Outlaws who proved after a 12 game losing streak that when your backs against the wall you can still come out fighting. The Bears were still without a number of key players through injury and unavailability but still fielded a side which will feel should have done a lot better.
After a short period of exchanges the Outlaws were first to score after a speculative high kick was gathered on the last tackle to give the Outlaws the lead the extras were added. The Bears then suffered a massive blow as Brad Massey came off injured having twisted his ankle in a tackle, the ‘go to’ forward was not to feature for the rest of the game putting added pressure on the Bears pack.
Then possession was handed back to the Outlaws soon after from forced passes as the Bears were punished again as the Outlaws slipped past a bewildered Bears defence their second row muscling over.
Bears standoff Alex Brown was then sin-binned for retaliation as the Outlaws twisted him in the tackle leaving the Bears a man down for the next ten minutes.
Dispite this the Bears fought back with a good score on the right when Stephen Coleman and Ash Johnson combined to score wide out, the tough conversion taken well by Coleman also.
Concentration wained and the Bears were caught out when the Outlaws chipped the ball through only for it to bounce perfectly into their chasing fullbacks hand to score under the posts.
This then seemed to effect the Bears confidence as the Outlaws again were allowed to press with their powerful centre squeezing over on the right giving them an impressive 22-6 lead at half time both trys also being converted.
The Bears looked stunned going into the break and had it all to do in the second half.
Dispite the hill to climb the Bears came back in the early stages of the second half when Matt Cooper scored two converted trys in the opening 20 minutes both powerful efforts after deft work from influential Bears Halfback Scott Clendenning-fenton the Outlaws grip on the game was quickly waining.
Tension soon surrounded the stadium with momentum clearly with a rejuvenated Bears outfit who looked odds on to pull off a comeback.
But the Outlaws players dug deep and held off the Bears continued attacks. The Bears went on to dominate much of the final quarter but just couldn’t get over the line.
Scott Clendenning Fenton broke through on a number of occasions with clean line breaks only for the final pass to not go to hand. Hooker Rob Brown was then judged to have been held up under the posts after a trade mark dart from dummy half.
The final blow then came from another Bears spill in possession which lead to the Outlaws scoring against the grain of play. Further injuries to Ash Johnson and Matt Cooper made it even harder for the Bears to recover and it was to little to late again as the Outlaws held out for the win.
Head Coach Alan Robinson Commented: Obviously we are very disappointed with the result it seemed fate was against us in many ways today as we lost some key individuals through injury at key points in the game.
Dispite that though we need to respect possession and our ill-discipline with the ball in the first half lead to us having to steep a hill to climb in the second half. Credit to Nottingham Outlaws they dug deep and fought for every inch. Taking a positive from the game we got the bonus point which after the favour Huddersfield Underbank have done us defeating Valley Cougars its now all to play for against the Welsh team in two weeks time at the Butts Park Arena. A win will secure us 6th place and a play off spot. We now need to lick our wounds and truly believe that we have the capability of doing the job when it’s needed the most.
Last home game of the season is on Saturday September 3rd against Valley Cougars at the Butts Park Arena kick off 2.30pm we would very much welcome some local support to cheer on the Bears and help us secure the playoffs.
