COVENTRY Rugby suffered a 40-35 defeat against an Exeter Chiefs Select XV in a thrilling pre-season friendly.
Alex Rae’s side ended their pre-season campaign with a narrow defeat against Exeter at Butts Park Arena.
The home side made a fast start as Aristot Benz-Solomon dotted down after just six minutes following a powerful maul from 10-metres out.
And Coventry struck again soon after when Morgan Adderly-Jones pounced on Sam Maunder’s grubber kick to dot down under the posts to score the home side’s second try.
However, Exeter responded as Charlie Bell crashed over the line before Oscar Beckerleg’s daring break set up Harry Price to score and level the game heading into the break.
The home side reclaimed the lead early in the second half when Suva Ma’asi bundled over only for Louie Gulley to touch down for the Chiefs soon after and restore parity.
And Dan Green scored Coventry’s fourth try following a quickly-taken tap and go penalty.
However, Exeter showed their fighting spirit to draw level once again as Sol Moody powered his way over the line.
The lead changed hands again minutes later when Josh Barton ducked and dived his way to the try line.
The visitors won back possession straight from the restart and stormed downfield before Moody touched down in the corner.
Tensions boiled over with five minutes left to play with both Ma’asi and Gulley sent to the sin-bin.
And the Chiefs snatched victory on 78 minutes as Moody completed a second-half hat-trick to bring an end to a frenetic contest.
Coventry begin their league campaign against Worcester Warriors on Saturday, October 4 with kick-off at 2pm at Sixways Stadium.
