COVENTRY’s director of rugby Rowland Winter admits there is still plenty of work to be done ahead of the new season after watching his side fall to a 28-7 friendly defeat at the hands of Championship side Ealing Trailfinders at the Butts Park Arena.
The home side more than matched their more superior opponents at times but Ealing made the most of their chances and showed a more clinical edge in the final third when it mattered.
Hooker Rhys Lawrence broke away to score the first try of the match which was converted by Jonny Bently but six minutes later Coventry were level.
Fly-half Tony Fenner initiated a move cleverly before Max Trimble sprinted over the line and he dusted himself back down to successfully kick the conversion to make it 7-7.
Much of the remaining minutes in the half were pretty even before the Trailfinders scored twice deep in the final quarter to lead 7-21 at the break with Luke Daniels and Joe Munro scoring and Bentley converted both with ease.
After the break Coventry applied plenty of pressure and did well in the set scrums but were unable to add to their score.
Despite Ealing losing Ben Ward for a yellow card infringement, the visitors went on to score again with replacement Mark Bright crashing over for try number four which Daniels converted.
“The highlights for me included our discipline throughout and the way we controlled possession for large parts of the game,” said Winter.
“We created plenty of chances to score and clearly won the penalty count, but we lacked the required clinical execution in key areas or on that final pass.
“The next step for us is to now convert that pressure into points, and today has highlighted a few areas where we can work on.
“We managed to get through a number of different combinations that will help us form our ideas for selection over the next few weeks.
“The team is growing together and working hard for each other, gradually we will see partnerships form and points will follow.”
This Saturday Coventry are in friendly action again when they host Newport (3pm kick off).
