COVENTRY remain hot on the heels of National League One leaders Ealing Trailfinders following Saturday’s 35-15 victory over Macclesfield.
The unbeaten run stretched to 18 games and never really looked under threat in front of another strong following at the Butts Park Arena (1,558) where Coventry secured five points to remain just two behind Ealing.
It looked as though Macclesfield would find themselves on the receiving end of a heavy beating after falling 14-0 down after just seven minutes but in truth the home side committed too many mistakes.
In-form Dan Rundle got Coventry of the mark when he crossed on the overlap to cross for the game’s opening try in only the second minute, and Cliffie Hodgson slotted home the conversion.
More open rugby quickly followed before Hodgson stormed through a major midfield gap on seven minutes for try number two which his converted.
At this point in the match Macclesfield were in complete disarray and it soon got worse on 22 minutes.
After winning back possession near the half-way line Rundle was able to steam though once again for his second try of the match which was again converted by the ever reliable Hodgson.
But suddenly the home side lost their impetus and the errors came creeping in before flanker Max Smith was driven over the line with the conversion failing.
After the break Coventry looked to raise the tempo but another mistake almost allowed Macclesfield to score again from deep.
Sam Pailor then left with a painful looking nose injury and on 50 minutes it was the electric Rundle who once more roused the crowd
Receiving possession inside his own ‘22’’, Rundle made ground, chipped ahead and re-gathered to storm in over the line and Hodgson converted for 28-5.
The visitors were reduced to 14-men and that should have been a signal for a Coventry scoring spree but with Van Heerden also departing it never came.
The seven man visiting pack found themselves in disarray again at a close in scrum and the referee awarded the hosts a penalty try which was converted by replacement Barry Davies with both Hodgson and Matt Jones substituted.
From 35-5 it was to prove to be Coventry’s last score with 13 minutes remaining and during that time both Shane Heffernan and Mike Finnermore were driven over for two unconverted tries which both came from home mistakes.
