ALEX Rae felt Coventry Rugby’s home defeat against Cornish Pirates was a ‘missed opportunity’ for his side.
Coventry suffered a 21-14 home defeat against the Pirates at Butts Park Arena as Rae’s men lost for the third game in a row.
And Rae admits his players will be kicking themselves after failing to turn pressure into points in the final quarter of the match.
Rae said: “It was a missed opportunity. Losing at home is really disappointing.
“We had enough opportunities in the second half to come away with the points.
“We will be kicking ourselves when we watch that back because we had so many entries in the 22 and have come away with nothing.
“The effort and endeavor were there but we got turned over far too many times.”
Tries from Arthur Relton and Matt Pritchard put the Pirates into a 14-point lead before Ryan Hutler and Dan Green dotted down for the hosts to draw Coventry level.
However, Jack Forsythe’s try put the Pirates back in front with Cov unable to score a third try in the remaining minutes.
Rae called on the Coventry supporters to stick with his young squad who remain determined to end their losing streak.
Rae added: “There is a bit of pain but these boys are getting really good experience which will stand us in good stead.
“It’s not winning us games at the minute but the effort and endeavor are there.
“We got turned over too many times so there needs to be bit more urgency and I don’t think we were on the front foot with the way we were carrying the ball.
“There is a bit of work to do on that but considering the opportunities we had to score I am disappointed to only come away with two tries.
“The crowds keep coming so I hope they can just keep sticking with this young group and realise where we are at.
“We will keep working hard and I am sure we will come good.”
Coventry are next in action against Doncaster Knights on Saturday, May 10 with kick-off at 2.30pm at Castle Park.
