Listen to the ground
There is movement all around
There is something goin' down
And I can feel it
There is dancin' out there
If it's somethin' we can share
We can steal it
Night fever, night fever
We know how to do it
Gimme that night fever, night fever
We know how to show it
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Just five weeks ago, in his Championship preview, The Rugby Paper's Ben Jaycock wrote that the general feeling was that the race for the top spot was a three horse one between Ealing Trailfinders, Doncaster Knights and Coventry Rugby.
Results in the last two rounds have shown that this is far from the case, with Coventry losing at Ampthill in Round 3 and now Doncaster Knights suffering what was something of a humiliating defeat for them against a resurgent Coventry in Round 4 yesterday.
Ealing , unbeaten in all 4 games so far this season, have strengthened their claim to be the team everyone else has to beat whilst Ampthill, aided by their willingness to include up to 13 registered Saracens' players in their match day squads, as of now sit second in the table and in so doing appear to be a side capable of having a real say in where the title eventually ends up.
Still very early days, but it's already beginning to look like the table is going to be split into three distinct groups with Cambridge, Scottish, Caldy and Hartpury battling it out at the lower end and Coventry, Bedford, Doncaster and maybe Ampthill chasing Ealing for the top spot with the rest vying for the mid table positions, although Nottingham and Pirates' supporters might well take umbrage over that.
Out of Doncaster and Coventry, Doncaster must have most to fear given the manner of their defeat yesterday. Whilst Coventry could, and arguably should, have beaten Ampthill in their previous outing, Doncaster were completely blown away by a Coventry side that found the kind of form that we'd seen in the Cup games against Saracens, Harlequins and Gloucester but which had been so obviously missing against Nottingham in the Cup and against Caldy and Ampthill in the League.
Coventry were ruthless yesterday and at times Doncaster just couldn't live with the pace. In the second half when forwards and backs combined to create the spaces to run into, Doncaster simply had no answer. And the really encouraging thing for Cov supporters is there's still more to come from this squad as the players get used to each other and become increasingly familiar with the style of play expected from the coaches. Some of the set plays we saw yesterday were straight off the training ground and there were passages of play that were as good as anything we've seen since we've been in the Championship.
The scrum still remains something of a concern, but with Joe Jones back , even with the current absentees in the front row through injury, we saw a big improvement yesterday. If Nicol is fit to face Ealing next week, then that would be a huge fillip for the club going into a game that is most likely to be the toughest of the season, even at this early stage in the campaign.
Going into yesterday's game, there was a fair amount of nerves amongst many supporters, especially those who had witnessed the Ampthill defeat. Cov were poor that day but, after yesterday's performance, it appears to be a blip rather than anything more worrying and Cov can now go into the game against Ealing with a fair degree of confidence. Fortunately for Doncaster, they face Scottish next weekend at home, a far more straightforward challenge than the one facing Cov and a chance to quickly get things back on track.
For Coventry, next week's game represents a massive challenge, but Cov always reserves its best performances for the strongest opposition and of the two sides, I rather feel Ealing will be the more worried as they has more to lose. It should be a corker of a contest and if there are enough Cov fans down at Vallis Way to get themselves heard, whatever the result Ealing will know they've been in a game come the final whistle.
The lack of any real choice as far as eating options inside the BPA are concerned meant that we sat and had a healthy sandwich and a drink sitting in the car park before entering the ground, and to be honest I felt all the better for it, both physically and financially, given the cost of a burger and chips these days. And if anyone doubted the desire amongst many supporters to choose something other than the usual 'pint and a pie' fare that is currently on offer inside the BPA, then they had only to look at the queues at the coffee van from the moment it opened up.
And whilst mentioning queues, there was some disquiet expressed over the length of time spent waiting at the various drinks outlets both pitchside and in the clubhouse. I know this is a perennial problem and one which has proved very difficult to resolve over the years, but if attendances continue to increase at the levels they presently are, then what is currently frustration could grow into something closer to genuine anger. And if that were to be the case, that in turn might well result in supporters beginning to vote with their feet and all the hard work on the pitch could be partly undone simply by a problem of logistics off it.
Anyway, a forced smile during the now obligatory bag search and we were in.
There had obviously been some activities taking place on the pitch early doors for quite a large contingent of youngsters, although who they were and what they had been doing wasn't clear and I've not seen anything coming out of the club to advertise what it was. It's not something the club tends to do which is a shame; even the announcer over the public address had to enquire as to which school(s) the youngsters were from.
Still, the children themselves seemed to have had a good time which is what really counts. That said, given the importance the club is attaching to its links to the local community these days, it would be good to know in advance which schools are taking part in these pre-game events and what the main focus is.
As is customary at the BPA at this time of the year, the club took time out before the game to remember those connected to the club who had lost their lives whilst fighting for their country. As well as a minute's silence after the last post had sounded, there was a small parade of youngsters representing the police cadets (apologies if I've got that wrong) alongside some flagbearers.
The silence was impeccably observed, but I did feel a little uncomfortable
when the the cadets were lined up in front of the main stand and the flags raised for a good minute or so whilst music was still blaring out from the PA. The players hadn't come out on the pitch in fairness, but the parade had started. Even when the bugler was sounding out the last post, the respective benches were still taking their positions which was a shame.
It would be remiss of me at this point not to give a big shout out to the bugler who played the Last Post just before the minute's silence.
I honestly don't think I've ever heard it played any better. It was sharp and clear; often on a cold November day there's the occasional bum note to be heard but not so yesterday.
I wish I knew the gentleman's name because he deserves credit for bringing real poignancy and emotion to the occasion.
It was a moving service, albeit a very short one, but it was important that the club recognised those amongst its own who had fallen, especially in this, its 150th year - lest we forget.
Whatever the coaches had said to the players in the post-match debriefing after the loss to Ampthill, it clearly had had the desired effect. Coventry opened the scoring within the first three minutes and although Doncaster briefly took the lead following a great counter after Cov had lost possession on the Doncaster 22, Cov continued to press and were soon to retake the lead after some Pellegrini magic created the space for Will Wand to burst through.
After what was a less than memorable performance against Ampthill, Pellegrini, Cov's own version of Billy Whizz, was back to his best creating chaos in the Donny defences and putting in some booming dead ball kicks on several occasions to take Cov to within 5 metres of the opposition line. He is mercurial when he's on his game, as he so often is, and with Coventry's forwards gaining increasing dominance as the game progressed, he was able to get the backs running at the opposition. And in Wand, Rigg, Martin, Hutler and Wilson, Cov must have a backline that is as good as any in this league. PP seems to create angles which are so difficult to defend
Tobi Wilson had a stormer of a game, looking calm and confident under the high ball and showing plenty of pace and skill in attack. As Alex Rae said in his post-match interview, he now has claim to the 15 shirt. But in Louis James, Cov has another young and extremely talented full back and I'm sure his turn will come once more. James has rarely had a poor game and even against Ampthill, when he was arguably at fault for one or even both of the opening tries, he still had a decent game. Both are attacking full backs and alongside Hutler and Martin, both are important cogs in what can be a very potent attacking force at times.
There were so many strong performances out on the pitch yesterday that it must have been a tough call to select the MofM - in the end it was Will Rigg (I think) who got the nod. For me though, the cornerstone of yesterday's emphatic win lay in the ability of our forwards to nullify the threat that was expected from what appeared a large, and at times, feisty Doncaster pack.
The return of James Tyas and Tiki Nayalo made a huge difference to the effectiveness of the forwards and enabled Matt Kvesic to return to 7, giving the back row a little more balance. Cov were dominant in the loose ensuring we got quick ball to allow the backs room to do their thing. The front row, so often our Achilles heel, looked far more solid in the first half and when Jones and Cordwell appeared, the Donny scrum collapsed - quite literarily on occasions.
One of the key moments of the game for me was late in the first half - Donny had been camped on our line for a good few minutes and had won a couple of penalties which they'd opted to kick to the corner. Cov soaked up the pressure and eventually stole possession and with it broke Donny's resolve. Instead of Doncaster going into half time almost on equal terms, Cov went into the break ahead and with their tails up following that great defensive effort, taking complete control in the second half with Donny unable to mount a single attack in the Coventry half for the entire 40 minutes.
Another interesting aside to the game was the decision by Cov to take the 3 points when 12-7 up after winning a penalty virtually in front of the posts, one that received a spontaneous round of applause from a good many Cov supporters who had become a little concerned by Cov's apparent obdurance in previous games when having the same option.
There are those who would argue that it could have cost us the game against Ampthill, so there was a fair amount of relief when Pellegrini stepped up to take the penalty yesterday. Certainly, going 2 scores ahead took away a little of the pressure the crowd was feeling, if not the players.
I'm not sure it was a decision that Alex Rae welcomed and listening to him being questioned by Richard Moon after the game, I got the distinct impression that it's something that would be discussed, quite vehemently, with the senior players on Monday.
It wasn't a complete performance from Cov by any stretch of the imagination, but it was an immensely impressive one nevertheless and with Ealing next up, confidence will be high after what was such a disappointing display against Ampthill. Hopefully, there won't be any major injury concerns, although it did look like Tom Ball got a knock to the head which, if that is the case, would see him unavailable for the Ealing game.
3414 watched the game, a figure that surprised a good few around where we were sitting. However, whatever the numbers, it was a very healthy crowd...
...all praying for this moment to last...
Knight fever, Knight fever
We know how to do it
Oh this video! One of the classics
I do miss those days .
yes got nothing direct from the Club on twitter or main site either, just read on line matchday program notes also no mention too,just managed to stumble across the tweet this morning the tweet more by a fluke certainly was not looking for directly.Quite right think club could promote days like this. Anyhow look forward to next weeks games Mob think have at least 5 Lond Irish players 2 ex Reds players and as you say shed loads of Sarries quite formidable
1 Fri
1945 Hartpury v Nottingham
Sat 1400pm Mob v CP,,,, cannot call this one think CP maybe have the edge
Sat 1430pm Donnie v LS
Sat 1500pm Bed v Cam ,,,nice local derby there
Sat 1500pm ETF…
Hello TS nice write up on superb day many thanks,here bit more on kids who were there for pre match entertainment leading players out etc,,straight off twitter talk about lucky mascots bring them back for next home match!,,,Edgewick Community Primary School,,(Cross Rd just off Foleshill Rd),,, have had a fantastic day at
@CoventryRugby
- watching them win 51-7, taking part in activities, meeting the players and being mascots that walk the players onto the pitch! ,,see more after match photos on twitter @edgewickprimary,,,,,cheers for match report we got good chance down Vallis Way next Sat it is going to be mighty close.