RUGBY UNION: ROWLAND Winter described Coventry’s 36-16 victory over Darlington Mowden Park as a ‘job well done’ as the ‘Blues & Whites’ ended their 2016/17 home campaign on a high, writes John Wilkinson.
Trailing 21-6 at half-time on Saturday, Park pulled back to within five points before Cov went down to 13 men with two yellow cards in the space of as many minutes.
But Winter was delighted with the way his side responded to keep their line intact before pulling further away when back at full strength.
“We knew they would bring lots of physicality and we had not just to match them, we had to beat it, and I think we did,” said Winter.
“The key point of the game was how we came alive when we went down to 13 men and we didn’t concede in that period.
“They came back at us pretty strongly after half-time when we had that wobble, which we always seem to do, but we sorted ourselves out and when we had the yellow cards I thought the boys were exceptional.
“We had a seven-man scrum and we were holding them, we had young Jake Byrne on at the end and they were avoiding scrummaging against us, and we were dominant in the mauls as well against a physical pack.
“It’s another game where we kept a team under 20 points so they went away with nothing, and some of our tries today were exceptional.
“We have the ability to do that, and we’ve been showing it all season, but the key thing is our defence and how much it has improved.”
A seventh consecutive victory has moved Coventry up to fourth in National League One with just a trip to Loughborough Students left to play this season.
And Winter has been pleased with the team’s progress in recent weeks, added: “The boys are determined to finish the season on a high and this was another step towards that.
“The boys are working hard in the week and that’s coming through on the Saturday – the group is a tight and settled unit, they’ve worked hard to get that, and now the cohesive performances and the team spirit and team ethics are coming trough which is great to see.
“This season has been more about the performances than league position, and that’s our seventh consecutive win, another bonus point, and again another time a team has come here and got nothing.
“We are pretty much where we want to be, we’ll continue to work hard in the summer and we’ll see where we are come September.”
