A SCINTILLATING first-half display helped Coventry Rugby to a 33-19 bonus point victory against Cambridge.
Ryan Hutler, Paddy Ryan, James Martin and Eliot Salt all crossed for first-half tries while Will Wand touched down shortly after the break at Ellgia Fields.
The result means Coventry sit fifth in the Championship table after bringing an end to their two-game losing run.
Alex Rae’s men made the perfect start when Hutler scored the game’s first try on eight minutes after Pat Pellegrini broke the line with Will Chudley in support.
And USA international Ryan scored the away side’s second try on 26 minutes, diving through several Cambridge legs to touch down on the line at the base of a defensive ruck with Pellegrini converting.
Former Cambridge winger Martin extended Coventry’s lead on 33 minutes with a powerful twisting finish after being released by neat combination play from Pellegrini and Hutler.
After Pellegrini converted from the touchline, Cov prop Salt forced his way over the line on 38 minutes to score his first try for the club with the former adding the extras.
And Cambridge lost prop Jake Ellwood to the sin bin at the end of the first period for repeated infringements at the breakdown.
Coventry made the most of the man advantage three minutes into the second half as Wand collected Jordon Poole’s offload before racing to the line from 70-metres out with Pellegrini converting.
Cambridge finally troubled the scoreboard on 51 minutes as Ben Brownlie applied the finishing touch following a powerful maul and Jamie Benson added the extras.
Cov lost Tiki Nayalo to the sin bin for a high tackle soon after and Cambridge struck again through Elias
Caven on the hour mark with Benson successfully kicking the conversion.
And Cambridge scored their third try of the second half on 70 minutes when Matt Collins powered over from close range as Cov saw out the remaining minutes to secure their first away win of the season.
