A STUNNING game of rugby saw Coventry beat new rivals Gloucestershire All Golds 33-20 as they ended their home campaign at the Butts Park Arena on a high.
In beautiful summer conditions, the Bears made the perfect start with Hayden Freeman scoring early on but the visitors replied through a try of their own by Jack Mitchell
Both sides ran and tackled hard and it was the hosts who scored next with Price beating four defenders to score Coventry’s second and some neat work by Joel James released Jamal Hunte.
Jay Lowbein then chipped the ball over Phill Cowburn before crossing under the sticks before James scored on the hooter to put the Bears in control at half-time.
The All Golds re-grouped at half time with the impressive Steve Parry scoring to keep them in touch the hosts eventually woke up with Bass crossing in the corner.
A series of home errors allowed Josh Allison to release Oren to score in the corner and the Bears again dropped the ball in the tackle presented another scoring opportunity for Williams to score again for the All Golds.
Dan Price then slotted over a drop goal to put the game to bed and Price added a late try round-up the scoring.
“Im not sure which I’m more pleased about: beating Crusaders last week or winning on Sunday,” said Bears head coach Tom Tsang.
“At any point in the season, playing the All Golds at home is the biggest game of the year for us.
“They are our local rivals and there are a number of players who have now played for both clubs. We are both clubs waving the flag for RL outside the heartlands and to have a rivalry like this is great for the game.
“We had to make some significant changes with six first team regulars missing, including Matt Reid, Eddie Medforth and Charlie Omara our three top try scorers and Richie Hughes our captain, so it was always going to be a tough ask to get the win.
“But the guys in the 17 all stepped up and everyone contributed to a great victory. I thought our discipline at times was poor and we allowed All Golds more field position than they deserved but apart from that we were the better side throughout.”
