Darlington Mowden Park 32 Coventry RFC 25

Errors and indiscipline cost Coventry dear as they slipped to their third successive National League One defeat in a game which finished with both sides down to 13 men.

Trailing 25-13 two minutes into the second half, Cov battled back to level terms by 55 minutes and, dominating the scrums, were very much the team in the ascendancy.

But the game turned again in the space of three minutes when a Dan Rundle try was ruled out for a forward pass, Park cleared upfield and, when Jacques Le Roux knocked on running the ball out of his own 22, fly-half Grant Connon swooped for his second try of the game and the winning score.

It was a near-perfect summation of Cov’s performance which saw them repeatedly hand back any advantage – and gift points – to their hosts as they fell short in some of the basics, showed a lack of patience and allowed it to boil over into frustration.

And with a daunting final few weeks of the season to come, it leaves a lot of questions to be answered and some hard work for the coaching staff.

Cov were caught cold and went behind inside two minutes. They lost the first line-out on their own throw and Connon won the race to a grub through by Garry Law to touch down a try which he also converted.

Cliffie Hodgson reduced the arrears with a sixth-minute penalty, and he converted five minutes later when the forwards drove over from a line-out for Loti Molitika to claim the try.

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