Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think
Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink
The years go by, as quickly as you wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself
It's later than you think
It's good to be wise when you're young
'Cause you can only be young but the once
Enjoy yourself and have lots of fun
So glad and live life longer than you've ever done
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink
Enjoy Yourself - Prince Buster
As Sue said to me this morning, 'You need to keep those Knights in check, mate'...
And there was my title for today's post. Gift wrapped.
I was left both amused and a-mused.
Away, then, to Doncaster on Saturday.
Always an enjoyable occasion, win or lose. Since 2018, mostly lose to be fair. A different story at the BPA of course, but a tough team to play in front of their own supporters on home turf.
But three years ago, on March 14th 2020 to be precise, Cov did come away from Castle Park with the win (26-35) after one of their better performances away from the BPA in what was then two years since the club's promotion into the Championship.
I've been up there a fair few times in recent years but that game in 2020 stands out for me still, not just because of the win ( any away win in those first couple of seasons was something to be savoured) but because it was the last game before the first lockdown.
The super spreader that was the Cheltenham Festival had just finished and no one was really sure of what we ought to be doing. I remember having some concerns as to whether I should travel up by coach as back then I was a very overweight, 60 plus asthmatic - all factors that would put me at greater risk.
Knowing what I know now, I shouldn't have travelled, but Cov is Cov and hindsight is a wonderful thing - although foresight is probably preferable.
Doncaster had gone to great efforts to ensure there was at least some social distancing and there were hand sanitisers adjacent to each turnstile - all rather worrying at the time given most of us were overly complacent and totally unaware of the underlying seriousness of the pandemic back then.
Odd that I remember very little about the win especially, as alluded to earlier, they were so infrequent back then, yet I have clear images of the Covid protocols that were in place - presumably because they were amongst the first I'd experienced in those early days of the virus.
Three years on, and the world is a very different place.
Which is the reason behind the choice of song for this post. There used to be a time, and not too long ago at that, when a Cov loss would sour my weekend somewhat, not in terms of interactions with friends or family, but it would definitely put a downer on things.
Now, well it's much more about the occasion than it is about the result - not something that the players would be able to relate to I'm sure given the importance attached to winning these days, but 'Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think/Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink' kind of rings true the older you become.
Take November's meeting between the two sides in what was the first round of the Championship Cup. Cov were well beaten in the end in what was a pretty dour game to be honest, notable in particular for a completely pointless (no pun intended) first half. 0-0 after 40 minutes. Not something I want to see again for a very long time. We've got used to Coventry playing an expansive, attacking game but that day both sides' forwards cancelled each other out to a certain extent.
The second half was a good deal better, but Coventry were bullied a little as the Donny pack took control and even though we scored immediately after the break, as I recall we were never really in it after that.
It was a loss and particularly disappointing for my grandson Josh for whom, I think, it was only his second away game (the first being the defeat in the Cup final v Ealing at the end of last season). Two games, two defeats. But if you're going to lose, then as a supporter there are worse places to suffer a defeat. Hartpury, Amphill, Blackheath, Moseley all spring to mind.
Only when you're 14, you don't quite see it that way.
Travelling to away games is always an enjoyable experience, at least it is for me, and at Donny there's always the consolation of a cow pie post-match, a guaranteed way of taking the edge a disappointing performance for supporters of either side.
I've always found the Yorkshire crowds to be welcoming - passionate about their team and about rugby in general, but also appreciative of the travelling fans who make the often long journey.
Losing to Donny wasn't the really dispiriting thing, it was probably the manner of the defeat that was most galling. It wasn't a second half capitulation by any means, but the performance after the break lacked the grit and steel that we've come to expect of Cov sides over the years.
Maybe I'm being a bit harsh there, but at the time it did feel like that.
For me, our two most disappointing performances this season have been the Donny game, together with the defeat against Hartpury a month later. Ealing and Jersey, they're always going to be tough games but against other sides in the Championship this season, even in Cup games, I'd always fancy our chances.
The really pleasing aspect to this season and the thing that is so encouraging about this squad, is that a loss or two hasn't fazed the players in the way it might have done in seasons past, particularly away from home, where as a club we've seemed to tighten up and rarely play with the freedom and inhibitions that we've did in front of a home crowd.
I've no idea what it is that we're doing differently under Alex Rae than was the case with Rowland Winter, but there's definitely a confidence about this side that we seldom saw with any consistency in the four previous seasons we've been in the Championship.
Perhaps it's because this is a young squad for the most part, made up of players who have come up through the ranks as part of winning sides and as such believe in themselves and in each other, more than perhaps a 'seasoned' group of players might; players who have more experience of the lows as well as the highs.
The work done by the coaches here seems paramount. If and when we have another 'Fans' Forum', it would be really interesting to hear what the coaches do to instill this self-belief both individually and as a team. What works for one player presumably won't necessarily work for the next. I'm not even sure the club makes use of a sports' psychologist...
The second encounter this season between these two sides is a good example of what I mean by this current crop of players not being daunted or disconcerted in anyway by a defeat, however disappointing the performance. Just two games later, it was Doncaster's turn to travel down to the BPA - and boy did Coventry make amends for that previous blip. It was one of Coventry's better performances in what has generally been a season of encouraging displays .
Coventry might have lacked an attacking edge up at Castle Park, but at home Donny just couldn't live with them in that second half. Cov led 13-7 at half time but in the next 40 minutes the team showed the kind of form that has led many a Cov fan to wonder if we are beginning to see the basis of the best squad we've assembled in decades. Pellegrini, again, led the charge with three tries but to say he was the difference between the two sides would be disingenuous in the extreme. Cov were better in all areas of the game during the final 30 minutes or so.
Indeed, that result appeared to be the catalyst for a series of impressive displays, other than the defeat to Hartpury. A draw against Jersey, a first win away against Ealing and a run of excellent performances against the likes of Nottingham, Bedford, Scottish and Caldy has ensured a top 3 spot which seemed more than a little unlikely when the season started back in September. Even the defeat away to Pirates saw us put in a blistering first half performance that really should have seen us home and hosed by half time.
I've learned not to get despondent about the lows these days:
The years go by, as quickly as you wink Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself It's later than you think
Although that said, I have yet to show any ability to rein myself in when Cov put in the kind of shift that we saw against Ealing and Jersey. Still a kid at heart.
As always, that I'm able to travel up to Donny is in part thanks to the sterling job done by the Coventry Rugby Supporters Club. The work those on the committee do to organise these coach trips means that it becomes an affordable option for many of us and for that I am extremely grateful. It's a thankless (literally, I imagine) task on occasions but it gives supporters the opportunity to come together behind their team on its travels, whilst also taking pleasure from that feeling of togetherness and comradery that only away supporters can truly enjoy.
And I know it's appreciated by the players, too. Every interview these days ends with a 'thank you' to the supporters...something that hasn't necessarily been the case in season past.
It's always a tiring day given the time spent travelling, but equally it's always an enjoyable one...
Long days, yes, but let's just hope we don't have to endure some hot Knights...
(This whole post was about getting safely to that final line...)
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