WINS are like buses for Coventry Bears – they’ve waited ages for one but now two have arrived in quick succession.
The Bears had not won a League One match since the opening day of the season in May but have now tasted back-to-back victories for the first time following their narrow 20-18 success over Hemel Stags.
In a game in which the lead changed hands four times, Coventry summoned up every reserve of mental and physical strength to get the winning try with just minutes left on the clock.
Having beaten London Stags 24-20 the previous weekend, a victory which brought an end to 13 consecutive defeats, Bears will now be full of confidence as they look to avoid the drop with ten games remaining.
Bears soaked up the early Hemel pressure before Jason Bass opened the scoring for the hosts with Ben Stead converting to make it 6-0.
However, Stags hit back through Blake Broadbent who evaded the challenge of four defenders before crashing over.
Kieran Smith added the extras to level the scores.
The Stags pressure continued but the game entered a scrappy spell midway through the first half with neither side managing to keep hold of the ball.
However, Bass then bagged his second try of the game with a searing diagonal run into the corner to nose Coventry back in front.
But back came Hemel as Alex Williams darted over on the right wing to level the score at 10-10 going into the break.
Hemel started the stronger from the restart but poor handling of the ball let them down at critical moments.
Despite this, their pressure eventually paid off when they were awarded a penalty following a player being held down after the tackle.
This gave Smith the chance to seize two points to put Hemel in the lead for the first time.
However, the lead changed hands once again when a counter attack from the Bears allowed Kieran Sherratt to zig-zag his way over the try line.
Stead kicked the extras to make it 16-12 to Coventry.
The Stags were far from finished, though, as they responded strongly and Smith was rewarded with a try and conversion to nose his side 18-16 in front with ten minutes left.
However, it would be Coventry who would have the last laugh when Harry Chapman scored with three minutes remaining, leaving Hemel with little time or energy to reply this time around.
Bears play host to Keighley Cougars on Saturday before welcoming West Wales Raiders to the Butts Park Arena on Wednesday.
