21/5/05 - LHF Healthplan National League 3 - Hemel Stags 42-28 Coventry Bears

Pennine Way, Hemel Hempstead

Coventry Bears came away from Hemel in a state of shock on Saturday after surrendering a 22 points to nil lead at half time.

Kurt Johnson opened the scoring on five minutes with a powerful run, and then three minutes later another break from Johnson followed by a neat slip pass to Tony Wildsmith resulted in another try.

Hemel responded well and rallied but Coventry's Gareth Barron stretched the Bears lead even further and with two Mark Hyslop penalties the Bears went into the half time break looking good value for a comfortable win.

The second half proved to be the complete opposite to the first however. Hemel started to control the ball and a series of penalties against the Bears given by Australian referee Greg Banks allowed the home side to start to take control. The Stags pulled back the deficit and were leading 24-22 before Coventry skipper Troy Perkins appeared to have steadied the ship with a try under the posts. Hemel responded with three tries in the last five minutes and sealed a great come back by the home team. 

Tries: Johnson, Wildsmith, Barron. Cons: Hyslop (4). Pens: Hyslop (2)

MoM: Mark Hyslop

Team: Hyslop, Neal, Johnson, Veamatahau, Wildsmith, Perkins, Clendenning–Fenton, Booth, Smith, Barron, Howitt, Wright, Stevens, Ashford, O’.Doherty, Jarvis, Aldridge.

18/4/05 - LHF Healthplan National League 3 - Coventry Bears 20-39 Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks

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The Bears fell short of the flying Hawks, and lost their unbeaten home run on Saturday at the Butts Park Arena.

Facing a determined Sheffield side, Coventry started strongly with a break from Lee Ashford neatly finished off by Mark Hyslop from 60 metres to take an early lead.

This didn't last long though as Sheffield hit back with some quick play on the right-hand side for Harry Whales to slide into the corner. The Hawks were obviously well up for the challenge and on 18 minutes full back John Birt went in for the first of his hat-trick.

The Bears still had a say however as Scott Clendenning-Fenton showed some good footwork to make it 10-8 in Bears' favour with 10 minutes of the half remaining. The Hawks refused to back off though as Ben Fairfax scored again, with Carson converting to take the score to 10-14 at half time.

Coventry started the second half with some poor defence as Simon Anniss scooted from dummy half to extend the hawks lead to eight points. The lead was extended yet again as Nathan Worton broke two tackles and charged to the line from 20 metres out to make it 10-24.

Coventry needed to wake up but their lack of outside back cover gave Birt another opportunity to go in for his second and third of the day in quick succession.

Robinson and Barron led from the front to show that Coventry perhaps had the mettle to come back as Lee Ashford went over unchallenged, but the fightback was short-lived as a drop goal by Bryan Evans hammered the final nail in the Bears' coffin.

Coventry managed to score again through Tim Stevens, close to the line, but it was all too late and Sheffield had the final say, topping a secure performance as Sam Turnell ran wide to score in the corner on the whistle.

Coventry's lack of support and ill discipline became their undoing and they must learn from this defeat if they are to have a chance to retain the National 3 title.

Final Score - Coventry Bears 20-39 Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks

Teams: Mark Hyslop, Alistair O'Doherty, Tony Wildsmith, John Fitt, Rich Draper, Troy Perkins, Scott Clendenning-Fenton, Alan Robinson, Joe Smith, Garreth Baron, Tim Stevens, Lee Ashford, Chris McBride, Dave Bowen, Rhidian Booth, Ian Grime, James Howitt

2/4/05 - LHF Healthplan National League 3 - Coventry Bears 33-30 Warrington Wizards
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Coventry Bears' squad took the league by the scruff of the neck once again on Saturday, defying the pundits to beat Warrington Wizards by 33 points to 30 at a sun-drenched Butts Park Arena.
The 'smart' money was always going to be on the match-ready Wizards finally overcoming their Bears bogey and avenging the Grand Final thrashing last October. However, Coventry had other ideas, and a new look Bears including seven new signings showed a lot of character through grit and determination to come out close winners.

Kick off was delayed by 20 minutes after the referee insisted that the dead ball lines were brought in as he considered the original marked-out lines dangerous by being too close to the hoardings.

The first half scoring was opened by Coventry on four minutes when a half-break by Robinson led to a long range touchdown under the sticks from Mark Hyslop. Further consecutive scores followed, a close range effort by prop Baron and excellent support play by centre Fitt and the scoreline began to creep away from Warrington who looked visibly shocked at the Bears' enthusiasm.

The Bears big pack were taking some stopping, in particular Gareth Barron who was bouncing off opposition players as they tried to tackle him.

Only some slack defending from Coventry on the left hand side on 25 minutes saw Paul Berry race clear to draw one back for the wizards. Another try was added by Matt Wright for Coventry on half time from an excellent offload by Perkins who had worked hard to overcome the Wizards close to the line.

Half time Cov 24-6 Warrington

Half time seemed to fly by for Coventry and so did Warrington's answer to their disappointing first half when a break through the middle sent Mark Roughneen under the posts for his first try on the day right from the kick off. The Coventry players were stunned and it was what Warrington needed.

End to end stuff ensued and Coventry's answer didn’t come long through Andrew Kaminsa out wide. Their celebrations were short lived though, as Warrington hit back with some powerful line running from Jon Cole to put more pressure on the Bears.

It seemed that the tiring Coventry side had no answer and they were clearly struggling with match fitness as the Wizards ran in more unanswered points. A disallowed try by Iestyn Pratt seemed to sting the Bears into some action though, and another solo effort and some good footwork by Perkins saw the Bears stretch the lead once more.

However it was short lived as the Wizards levelled the scores with eight minutes remaining. Only a long range penalty by Hyslop and a cheeky drop goal on the 75th minute put the Bears three points clear. The last five minutes saw all the possession in Warrington hands but the Bears dug deep to show that they still have the courage and pride to retain the title.

6/2/05 - Rugby League Challenge Cup - Siddal 26-4 Coventry Bears

By Nigel Warburton.

Don't be fooled by the scoreline. This was a very creditable performance by the Bears, coming into a match in the middle of the National League's off-season, and with only five of the squad that won the grand final back in October. Compound that with the fact that the team had only managed to get together twice for training sessions, and couple it with the arrival next month of a clutch of quality players, and the club's management has every right to be optimistic about the upcoming summer season.

Those that played yesterday performed minor miracles in defence, under severe intimidation at times - which eventually led to the referee deciding he'd had quite enough thank you, and proffering a yellow card to three of the home players.

The scoring was opened after four minutes following some good handling by the Siddal backs, when winger Steve Hope went in under the posts. Liam Walsh adding the extras.

The Bears stuck to their task magnificently however, defending strongly, until a missed tackle eventually let in Siddal on 25 minutes to score in the corner; Walsh unable to convert this time.
On 32 minutes, Mark Hyslop might have put points on the board when Cov were awarded a penalty about 35 yards out, but the kick went just wide of the upright. Cov's defence remained resolute against some ferocious attacks, but was finally breached once more in the 38th minute when Hope again crossed the whitewash. Walsh topped-up the points.

Half Time: Siddal 16-0 Bears

The Bears had the perfect start when Alan 'Boomer' Robinson charged over from a close in to put the Bears on the scoreboard. Stuart Lee was unable to add the extras on from fairly wide out.
So, game on, it appeared, with only two scores separating the sides and Cov starting to make inroads and rattling the home side until the 48th minute hopes of an unlikely recovery were dashed when Tony Sheard went in at the corner.
On 53 minutes Hope went clear along the touchline, probably convinced he was in for his hat-trick. Hyslop had different ideas however, as he dumped the winger into touch with a copybook fullback tackle.
The home side were by now clearly rattled as Cov were starting to string moves together threatening to score on one occasion when some lovely interchanges sent Stuart Lee clear, only for the youngster to be bundled into touch.
Siddal closed the scoring on the 61st minute with a converted try.

The home side's indiscipline might have cost them dearly, however, as the insider shots started to go in. The referee decided that enough was enough, and a Siddal player was dispatched to the sin bin on 64 mins after yet another high shot. Then on 71 mins after some good play by the Bears a skirmish broke out with the Bears threatening to score. Tim Stevens was held in the tackle by two Siddal players while another came into throw a punch. After the referee consulted with his touch judges both Stevens and the Siddall player were sent to the bin to take no further part in the game. Then on 73 mins yet another Siddal player followed them to the sidelines for kicking the ball away as it was thrown to take a quick 25 metre tap.
The Bears were unable to make the extra numbers count in the last seven minutes though as injuries to several players took their toll.

This was a good performance from a patched-up Bears side against a top amateur side half way through their season. They will have had easier games this season.

The official Man-of-the-Match was Troy Perkins for his leadership role in organizing the Cov defence against what, at times, must have seemed insurmountable odds.

The BearsWeb Man-of-the-Match was Ian Grime - who didn't put a foot wrong all game and tackled all afternoon. Grimesy was closely followed by Johnny Nichols who - as always - made the hard yards each time he got the ball after coming on as sub.

All sixteen players deserve a big mention for putting in 100% effort.