CRFC chief Phil Maynard says Cov are on target for promotion

Coventry's half-term report makes good reading with the club sitting third in National League One and pressing hard on the heels of the two sides above them, Ealing Trailfinders and Rosslyn Park.

Their stated target before the start of the season was a place in the top four at Christmas – one which has been comfortably achieved on the back of a current 11-game winning run.

And rugby director Phil Maynard admits that there is an air of both excitement and anticipation at the Butts Park Arena going into this Saturday’s start to the second half of the season when Loughborough Students are the visitors.

“So far so good – we’re on schedule and the team has come together well,” said Maynard.

“Our aim when we started life in this league was to get a squad together to sustain a challenge to get us promoted and we are steadily getting there.

“Now everybody is looking forward to the second half and we know the players will be giving it 100 per cent.”

After the traumas of administration followed by the threat of liquidation in 2009 and then relegation from the Championship, Maynard acknowledges that it has been a long, hard haul for everyone involved on and off the field to get the club to where it is now.

“Our plan was always to have a go at getting back up when it was practical,” he said.

“If we’d had a massive budget it would have been a lot simpler, but we’ve had to build from scratch.

“The second year was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life – other teams had worked us out and it was a case of survival.

“The last few years have been a bit experimental, but we’ve gradually stepped things up to where we are now – we have got a really good group of blokes who are all good lads and believe in the shirt.

“We now have experience in key areas, especially at half-back which has been a major step forward for us this season.

"Scrum-half Wayne Evans has brought stability and seems to have more time on the ball the tougher the opposition, he can quite easily move into the next division and he brings out the best in Matt Jones.

“The group has grown together, everyone has improved and it is impossible to single out players, but if I had to, I would give a special mention to Matt Price who always gives it his everything and just gets stuck in. He has been outstanding for us.

“Equally, there is the consistency of Tom Poole, a hard-working and uncompromising lad who typifies what we are all about as a group, and another guy in the front row who never gets the headlines, Andy Brown, while in the backs, Will Hurrell’s work-rate in a game is unbelievable.

“I can’t speak highly enough of what Scott Morgan has brought to the club, and the other coaches, Pete Glackin and Dave Addleton are doing a great job."

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