COVENTRY Rugby exited the Premiership Rugby Cup after suffering a 68-26 defeat against Leicester Tigers in front of a record crowd.
A record 5,250 spectators watched on at Butts Park Arena as Coventry missed out on a coveted quarter-final spot.
Tries from Aaron Hinkley, Oli Morris, Jevaughn Warren and Josh Barton proved in vain as the home side came away from the fixture with a try bonus point.
The defeat means Coventry finish the pool stages in third place while victors Leicester also failed to qualify for the last eight.
Cov made the worst possible start as Leicester’s Finn Theobold-Thomas dotted down the game’s first try inside the opening two minutes from the back of a driving maul.
And the Tigers crossed again on 11 minutes as former Cov favourite Will Wand scored in the corner.
The home side halved the deficit five minutes later as Hinkley finished under the posts and Tommy Mathews converted after good work from Tom Ball and Sam Maunder.
However, Leicester scored two more tries before the break as Josh Bassett crossed twice to put the visitors in command at the interval.
And Bassett then fed Emeka Ilione to score the first try of the second period just three minutes after the break.
Cov responded two minutes later when Morris marked his first appearance since October with an interception try under the posts as Theo Mannion kicked the extras.
However, a pair of quickfire tries from Jamie Shillcock and Tom Whiteley extended Leicester’s lead.
Replacement prop Warren dived over for Coventry’s third try before Tigers skipper Finn Carnduff barged his way over at the other end.
Cov claimed a bonus point try when Barton weaved his way to the line from a scrum.
However, Leicester moved into double figures for tries with two late scores as Wand dotted down his second of the game before Kyle Hatherell completed the scoring.
Coventry are next in action against Cambridge on Saturday, March 22 with kick-off at 3pm at Butts Park Arena.
