Match Report

Neath 29 - Coventry 24

The Gnoll, Sat 6th Mar 10 KO: 14.30

Neath 29
Coventry 24

By Tony Poole

NEATH leaned on grit and determination to round off their British & Irish Cup Pool B campaign with a deserved bonus-point victory over Coventry.
Considering this was a dead rubber with only fourth place honours at stake, both sides went at it hammer and tongs.
The Blacks prevailed despite having two players binned in the second half - prop Jim Reeves seeing yellow just 30 seconds after leaving the bench.
"The intensity of the game was excellent and having rotated the squad, there were some pleasing performances on view," said Neath head coach Patrick Horgan.
"The competition has provided us with some high octane games, and all in all it has been a welcome addition to our fixture list.''
Coventry were looking for a win to build confidence ahead of the Championship play-off matches that get underway later in the month.
"It wasn't a case of us having one eye on the Championship play-off matches - we came to Neath searching for a win," said Coventry backs coach Tommy Hayes, the former Glasgow and Cook Islands fly-half.
"We failed to exploit two yellow cards, and in fairness to Neath they showed a lot of passion.
"Our main fault was a failure to bump up the pace at key times, the players knew what was expected of them, and failed to deliver.''
The fixture harked back to the halcyon days of Anglo-Welsh matches that brightened up club fixture lists over a quarter of a century ago.
This formed a first Gnoll visit for Coventry since 1991/92 when the Midlanders went down to a 52-10 defeat.
The last Coventry win over Neath dated back to 1983/84, and was recorded at their old Couldon Road ground.
Both sides came into this final Pool B fixture with identical tournament records.
Wins over Heriot's were countered by defeats against the big three - Munster A, Bristol and Nottingham.
Centre Wayne Mitchell had one of his best games in years for Neath, and along with scrum-half Tom James and flanker Adam Whitney they constantly took the game to the Butts Park men.
Though Coventry opened the scoring with a Chris Lewis touchdown, goaled by Ben Russell, Neath constructed a 17-7 lead.
Two tries from wing Alec Jenkins along with a Nathan Brew touchdown left Coventry with plenty to find.
But they reduced arrears to 17-12 at the break via an interception try from centre Phil MacKenzie.
Neath bombed a try on the restart in a two-on-one situation, involving replacement Kevin Morgan and wing Jenkins.
Soon after a dust up among numerous players led to a strange state of affairs - Neath scrum-half James being singled out as the 43rd-minute perpetrator of the big dust up.
That left Coventry with a big advantage and during the absence of James, they scored a try through replacement centre Chris Mahony.
However, after James returned, Coventry prop James Hall crashed over for a try that extended the lead to 24-17.
But the Blacks defied the odds in squaring matters on the hour, 24-24, wing Richard Smith just managing to hit the try-line.
But young Reeves then saw yellow, and once more the wise money was on Coventry.
It was, however, still anyone's game during the closing stages, and Coventry thought they had scored a try through centre Chris Lewis on 70 minutes.
But the pass on halfway from namesake James Lewis, the former Ebbw Vale and Bedwas man, was eventually pointed out as forward to the referee by a touch judge.
Surprisingly, it was the semi-professional side that lasted the pace better with starman Mitchell cutting through on 78 minutes.
He found flanker Whitney on his shoulder, and young Smith was freed for the winning try.
An exceptional Neath performance has left Neath head coach Horgan with a pleasing selection problem ahead of Carmarthen Quins home in the league on Tuesday and Cross Keys away this Friday.

MATCH STATS

Neath: G. King; R. Smith, N. Brew (K. Morgan 37 mins), W. Mitchell, A. Jenkins; G. McCarthy, T. James (Ryan Jones 78); E. Lewis, A. Littlehales (G. Price 62), V. Lott (J. Reeves 67), P. Sidoli, H. Pugh, G. Gravell (capt - L. Evans 54), C. Price (E. Evans 74), A. Whitney

Coventry: B. Russell; S. Frewin, P. MacKenzie (G. Davies 70), C. Lewis, J. Lewis; F. Apikotoa (C. Mahony 24), N. Jones (O. Frost 76); R. Dugard (D. Maddocks 58), M. Dwyer (R. McMillan 63), J. Hall, S. Herrington, B. Dechartres (L. McGowan 58), A. Carpenter (capt), A. Shaw (D. Askew h-t), R. Bignell

Referee: David Wilkinson (Irish RFU)

Half time: 17-12

Full time: 29-24

Attendance: 1,000

Star man: Wayne Mitchell (Neath)

Scorers:

Neath: Tries: A Jenkins (6, 23 mins), N Brew (17 mins), R Smith (58, 78 mins); Cons: G McCarthy (23, 58 mins)

Coventry: Tries: C Lewis (4 mins), P MacKenzie (30 mins), C Mahony (46 mins), J Hall (55 mins); Cons: B Russell (4, 46 mins)

Pens conceded: 14-8 (1st half: 5-6, 2nd half: 9-2)

Lineouts won: 8-14 (1st half: 5-2, 2nd half: 3-12)

Lineouts lost: 1-2 (1st half 1-0, 2nd half: 0-2)

Scrums won: 10-6 (1st half: 7-4, 2nd half: 3-2)

Scrums lost: 0-0

Sin Bins: 2-0 (T James 43, J Reeves 67 mins)