Coventry Bears Rugby League team were beaten 50-10 at RLC National leaders Huddersfield Underbank Rangers this afternoon.
Coventry Bears traveled to top of the table Huddersfield Underbank Rangers and were outmatched by a well drilled and powerful side on the day.
Huddersfield took the lead on the ten minute mark after some poor execution by the bears gifted the opposition some early field position leading to a try in the left hand corner from some swift Huddersfield passing. The Bears then suffered some early misfortune when returning prop Ryan Jenkins was forced to leave the field due to an ankle injury.
The Huddersfield pack knew what they were doing on the small pitch and running down the hill made some impressive breaks to further pressure the Bears into another mistake on the right on the 19th minute with another score. Brad Massey who had moved up to prop was impressive once more and battled the Bears back into some decent field position Poulton and Clendenning-Fenton linking well to unleash Andy McGrory who raced to the corner only to be denied by the touch judge who had adjudged to him being touch in goal as he planted the ball down.
The missed chance was punished by Underbank when a clever kick by impressive standoff Barrett held up perfectly for the chasing Chatterton who collected and raced to the line unscathed. The Bears then suffered another devastating blow as star fullback Paul Oconnor was forced to sit out the rest of the game due to a nasty gash to his face, this undoubtably put further pressure on the Bears bench and interchange as the Huddersfield pack were never going to hold back their onslaught. The first half then also finished with a further score for Underbank after some half breaks and offloading to the trailing support of Utility back Midgley.
The Bears knew that they needed to start the second half well and did so when on the last tackle Clendenning-Fenton again found the supporting McGrory on his inside with a decisive pass, the strong running winger crashing over in a three man challenge. Centre Stephen Coleman added the conversion and the Bears were back in the hunt. This was shortlived however as further lost possession by the Bears in their own half was turned into points by Underbanks top scorer Geoghegan. The Huddersfield side then dominated the final quarter with two further trys as Coventry desperatley tried to fight back.
To their credit the Bears never gave up and were rewarded a consolation try by ever present Australian back rower Chad Grant. Though by that stage the game was in the bag for Huddersfield.
Next week the Coventry Bears return to the Butts park Arena and take on Warrington Wizards who last week were also defeated by the dominant Huddersfield Underbank Rangers.
Head Coach Alan Robinson commented on the game and the week ahead: 'We had quite a bit of misfortune today and loosing two players in the First quarter didnt help us, however credit is due to how the Huddersfield side performed, they are certainley the best side we have played so far this year and it can be seen why they are top at the moment. We will want to draw a line through todays result but we will be sure to reflect on how we performed and what we can improve on. We have four returning First team forwards next week and I am confident we can bounce back from this defeat'
Huddersfield Underbank Rangers
1.Sam Hendrick
2.Courtney Allettte
3.Nick Briggs
4.Adam Ryder
5.Shaun Smith
6.Neil Barrett
7.Alex Chatterton
8.Craig Williams
9.Adam Carroll
10. Sam Dalby
11. Sam Housley
12. Rob Joyce
13. Jack Mitchell
Replacements (all used)
14. Will Midgley
15. Andy Boothroyd
16. Chris Geoghegan
17. Sam Cummings
Tries: Smith (11, 63, 74), Ryder (19, 24), Chatterton (32), Midgley (36), Geoghegan (47), Williams (69)
Goals: Barrett (7/9)
Coventry Bears
1.Paul O’Connor
2.Tanaka Chamunokara
3.Stephen Coleman
4.Tom Tsang
5.Andy McGrory
6.Dan Poulton
7.Scott Clendenning-Fenton
8.Ryan Jenkins
9.Barry McGuffog
10. Brad Massey
11. Luke Watts
12. Chad Grant
13. Rob Brown
Replacements (all used)
14. Alex Sweeney
15. Harry Kaufman
16. Christian Jacobs
17. Tom Watts
Tries: McGrory (42), Grant (71)
Goals: Coleman (1/2)
Half-time: Rangers 28 Bears 0
Referee – Michael Woodhead
Men of the match Rangers-Sam Housley Bears – Brad Massey
Coventry Bear Ladies beat West London Sharks 52-24 at home