THIRTEEN unanswered tries by visiting Whitehaven secured them the Betfred League 1 title and handed Coventry Bears a seventh-straight loss in the process to end the season.
A 72-0 scoreline did not make for a pretty sight in Saturday’s finale, the last at Bears’ temporary Webb Ellis Road home following the completion of renovation works at Butts Park Arena.
Whitehaven found a route to Coventry’s try line five minutes in when Jordan Burns scored in the corner, followed by one for Jacob Moore shortly after – who recorded six successful conversions during the course of the match.
The Bears showed some sign of life when Nathan Conroy, Reece Rance and Jacob Jones all tried their luck to break through the visitors rearguard, but to no avail.
Burns added a second try midway through the half, while Marc Shackley got in on the act two minutes later for the champions’ fourth.
Chris Taylor, Carl Foster and Dave Thompson added three further scores before the half was out, with more of the same to follow after the break.
A five-minute spell in the Whitehaven half suggested the hosts were ready to spring a comeback of sorts, but once Callum Phillips went over for the first score of the half, the drubbing resumed.
Burns sealed his hat-trick before Thompson scored his brace, followed by a second try for both Moore and Phillips and a final try of the game by Andrew Bulman in the remaining moments of the game.
It ends a disappointing season for the Bears, one which had started with early signs of promise, before being disrupted by injuries and a forced exile from their home turf.
