COVENTRY Rugby suffered a 63-36 home defeat against Ealing Trailfinders despite four tries from Peter Sullivan.
Sullivan touched down three times before the break and once in the second half for the home side at Butts Park Arena.
And Josh Thomas also dotted down as the hosts came away with a try bonus point.
However, Ealing crossed nine times in a ruthless display from the visitors who remain top of the table with a perfect record.
And the result leaves Coventry 11th in the Champ Rugby table with one win from four matches.
The home side made the perfect start as Sullivan finished off a blindside move following a lineout maul after just four minutes as Thomas kicked the extras.
However, Ealing responded on 10 minutes when Francis Moore finished in the corner and Daniel Jones converted.
And the visitors struck again on 15 minutes as David Bridge crashed over from a well-worked lineout routine.
However, Coventry levelled the game four minutes later when Sullivan intercepted an offload and sprinted the length of the pitch to dot down.
Ealing reclaimed the lead on 22 minutes as Matt Cornish powered over after Coventry conceded another penalty at the scrum.
Sullivan completed his hat-trick just three minutes later when he rose highest to collect Thomas’s cross-field kick and touch down as the conversion attempt hit the upright.
Coventry then lost Matt Johnson to the sin-bin and Ealing scored their bonus point try shortly before the break as Jordan Holgate made the most of an overlap to score in the corner.
The home side reduced the deficit before half time as Thomas kicked a penalty to close the gap to six points at the interval.
However, Rae’s men made the worst possible start to the second half when Holgate intercepted Thomas’s loose pass and raced clear to score his second try of the game four minutes after the break.
Ealing crossed again on 55 minutes as Tobi Wilson touched down out wide to leave the home side with a mountain to climb.
And Danny Cutmore then charged down a clearance to score with 10 minutes left to play to all but end the game as a contest.
Sullivan scored Coventry’s bonus point try five minutes later as he took hold of another intercept and sprinted to the line to score his fourth try of the match.
However, Ealing struck again on 77 minutes when Scott Buckley touched down following a rolling maul.
The home side scored a fifth try two minutes later as Thomas finished under the posts after replacement Api Bavadra made a surging break through midfield.
But Ealing had the last laugh when Jordan Reid touched down from a lineout drive with the clock in the red.
Coventry are next in action against Richmond on Saturday, November 1 with kick-off at 2pm at Richmond Athletic Ground.
