South Wales Ironmen 24 Coventry Bears 22
League One Professional Rugby League
BEARS were pipped at the post in the final seconds of a game they thought they had won at the Ironmen’s Merthyr Tydfil stadium on Sunday.
The match was played in heat more associated with the south of France than South Wales and this, together with the hosts’ artificial pitch, created challenging conditions for both sides.
Bears started the game in determined fashion, but a grubber kick from the Ironmen led to them scoring first and getting the conversion.
The hosts continued pressing, pinning the Bears in their own half as Roets sneaked over from the dummy half position. The conversion was missed but the Ironmen took their lead to 12-0 at half time thanks to a penalty.
After that scrappy first half, things would surely get better for the Bears, but everything was going the hosts’ way as the ball bounced in their favour and they were over for another try to make the score 16-0.
At last the Bears scored thanks to Kieran Sherratt getting on the end of Harry Chapman’s grubber kick and Brad Delaney converted. The comeback was happening.
With the Bears in the ascendancy, the Ironmen had a player sin-binned to give a numerical advantage to the Bears, for whom Mikey Russell crossed over from close range.
The try was converted but the Ironmen responded when awarded a penalty kick for the score to reach 18-12.
Midway through the second half, the Bears levelled as Jack Morrison powered over for another converted try.
Then, with ten minutes to go, Matt Reid added his name to the scoresheet and put the Bears 22-18 up.
The clock ticked agonisingly as the Bears hung on for a hoped-for first away victory.
However, luck was not on their side as the home side scored in the dying embers of stoppage time to take the spoils and leave Bears rueing the mistakes which had cost them so dearly in the first half.
Try rugby league this weekend
COVENTRY Bears have come up with a free and fun offer for both kids and adults for this Sunday (June 25) when they host Workington Town at the Butts Park Arena.
On Sunday morning, their acclaimed community coaches will be running a Rugby League Development Day for kids and teenagers in different age groups from six to nine-year-olds right up to 16-17-year-olds.
The training, games, nutrition advice and fitness drills start at 10am and finish at 2pm and all kids need to bring are suitable clothing and water for hydration.
Then, at 3pm, they can watch the professionals in action in what is set to be a thrilling and close League One encounter.
What is more, not only do the youngsters get to see the game free, but adult tickets are also free for each person bringing a boy or girl to the training session.
As one of the Bears’ Community Coaches Mikey Russell explained: “We do lots of training and work in schools across Coventry, but this is a chance for every youngster to have a go, learn and have fun.
“We’ve got coaches doing their own specialities like passing, kicking and defence work and will have kids split into different age groups.
“We will have refreshments available and then there’s a big game afterwards. It’s the first Development Day we’ve run and we hope to see loads there, training and then staying on for the game.”
To reserve a place on the Development Day and get free game tickets, visit Coventry Bears’ website or search for them on Eventbrite.
