Home form helps Coventry exact revenge
Coventry were beaten 42-5 by Blackheath back in September
©Nick Meredith
Coventry have one for the best home records in National One this season and it was on display yet again in Round 18 as they secured another victory at the Butts Park Arena.
Their ninth home win of the term came against Blackheath who defeated Cov earlier in the campaign. That loss was described as ‘embarrassing’ by Coventry’s Director of Rugby Rowland Winter back in September, but his side made amends for that in some style.
Hartpury College were another team that turned on the style as they secured their 18th straight win of the season as they beat a valiant Fylde side at Woodlands.
Elsewhere in National One, Plymouth Albion and Ampthill & District returned to winning ways, while Rosslyn Park and Darlington Mowden Park continued their impressive recent form.
Birmingham Moseley’s trip to Blaydon and the relegation battle between Hull Ionians and Macclesfield were both postponed due to the bad weather.
Fylde 31-57 Hartpury College
Ben Vellacott scored four tries as league leaders Hartpury College thrashed Fylde to secure their 18th straight victory of the season.
Hartpury led 28-10 at the break as Mike Wilcox, Luke Eves and Jonas Mikalcius (2) added to Vellacott’s first score of the afternoon.
The visitors – who had scored tries through Sam Bedlow and Anthony Bingham in the first period –added to that after the interval as Greg Smith, Chris Briers and James Bailey all crossed to cut the lead to seven.
Vellacott’s second try was sandwiched in between Fylde’s excellent scores, but a Levi Davies try and a brace from Vellacott, who has recently made his Premiership debut for Gloucester, wrapped up the win for Hartpury.
Plymouth Albion 29-7 Esher
Plymouth Albion climbed back into second place in National One with a convincing bonus-point win over Esher.
The hosts did make a slow start with Cameron Gentles going over from close range to give Esher an early 7-0 lead. However, Albion went into the break a point ahead thanks to a Matt Shepherd try and a penalty from on loan Exeter Chiefs fly-half Will Hooley.
Scrum-half Cam Setter powered over for Plymouth’s second try immediately after half-time, before the hosts were awarded a penalty try.
Setter then grabbed his second of the afternoon which ultimately sealed a ninth home win of the season for Kieran Hallet’s men.
Ampthill and District 25-3 Loughborough Students
Ampthill and District bounced back from defeat against Darlington Mowden Park in Round 17 to secure victory over Loughborough Students at Dillingham Park.
Tries by Sam Baker and Brett Sturgess helped Ampthill take 13-3 lead with Joe Tarrant adding the extras for the hosts while Owen Waters slotted over a penalty for Students.
Ampthill kicked on after half-time as Sam Hanks and Stef Jones scored quick-fire tries, but despite a positive display from Loughborugh in the second 40, the A’s held out for the victory.
Coventry 39-3 Blackheath
Coventry avenged their defeat to Blackheath earlier in the season by thrashing ‘Club’ at the Butts Park Arena.
Cov were beaten 42-5 back in September by the London-based side, but roles were reversed on this occasion as Rowland Winter’s men extended their unbeaten run to five matches.
It might have been a different story if Blackheath’s Greg Gillanders hadn’t been sent-off on 30 minutes, but at that point Coventry were already 10-3 up thanks to a try from Darrell Dyer and five points from the boot of Tony Fenner.
From there, the hosts didn’t look back. Scott Tolmie crossed before-half time after both sides had received yellow-cards and after the break, Owain James went over to give Cov a 20-3 lead following a superb run and chip from Fenner.
Josh Peters claimed Coventry’s fourth try of the afternoon on his home debut before a penalty try and a score from Tom Jubb added the gloss.
Rosslyn Park 35-17 Old Albanian
Rosslyn Park extended their winning streak to four matches as they claimed a bonus-point win over Old Albanian.
Hugo Ellis got the home side off to a great start as he scored the opening try before Park doubled their lead shortly after. Sam Lunnon responded for Old Albanain to leave the scores at 14-7 heading into the half-time.
Nick Foster levelled the match up as the OAs claimed the first try of the second period, but a Charlie Piper try put Park back in front.
Ben Palmer reduced the deficit to four points as once again the OAs hit back, but a second try for both Ellis and Piper secured the victory for the hosts.
Cambridge 20-25 Darlington Mowden Park
Darlington Mowden Park stretched their unbeaten run to four matches as they secured their third win on the spin away at Cambridge.
Cambridge’s Matt Hema scored a first-half brace either side of James Barnard’s try to give the hosts an early advantage and they built on that before the break as Albert Portsmouth dotted down to give the Blood and Sand a 15-7 lead.
However, their advantage would only be three points at the interval as Simon Uzokwe dotted down for DMP.
That score from Uzokwe seemed to spark the visitors into life and they were ahead in this contest just two minutes after the restart as Josh Bragman crossed.
Bragman then slotted over a penalty as ill-discipline started to creep into a poor second-half performance from Cambridge before Joe Craggs put the game beyond any doubt with DMP’s bonus-point try five minutes from the end.
The hosts sealed two bonus-points for themselves as George Furbank went over late on, but it is now four defeats on the spin for Ross Stewart’s side.
