COVENTRY RFC were left stunned after they surrendered a 19-point first-half lead in a 31-26 defeat away at Cornish Pirates to come away with two bonus points.
Alex Rae’s side were in control at the break as Will Chudley, Lucas Titherington, Oliver Andrews and Suva Ma’asi all touched down whilst Patrick Pellegrini kicked three conversions.
However, Pirates struck on the stroke of half time and kept Coventry scoreless in the second period whilst running in two tries of their own to complete an impressive turnaround at The Mennaye.
The result means Coventry remain third in the Championship table, one point clear of Bedford Blues with a game in hand.
And the visitors made a quick start as Chudley crossed for the game’s first try on eight minutes with a Pirates player sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on the try scorer.
Coventry doubled their lead when Titherington dotted down from Chudley’s pass before Andrews increased the away side’s advantage with a try from a driving maul.
Pirates eventually troubled the scoreboard with their first try as John Stevens crashed over and Arwel Robson converted.
However, Coventry scored their bonus point try before the break when Ma’asi was quickest to touch down from a superb Pellegrini kick only for Cornish to reduce the deficit as Will Crane scored from another driving maul.
And Pirates made Coventry pay after James Tyas was sent to the sin bin as the home side scored on the man advantage from yet another driving maul.
The visitors were simply unable to cope with Cornish’s powerful pack as the home side were awarded a penalty try and Will Biggs was sent to the sin bin after he collapsed a driving maul that was destined for the try line.
And Harry Bazalgette completed the scoring with a last-minute penalty with Coventry left frustrated after Chudley appeared to be tackled off the ball only for the game to restart with a goalline dropout.
Coventry are next in action at home to Caldy on Saturday, March 18 with kick-off at 3pm at Butts Park Arena.
