Cardiff 7 Coventry RFC 50

Coventry's’ pre-season continued apace with a sparkling seven-try display at the Arms Park which only served to underline the options they will have available for the National League One campaign

On top virtually from the off, Cov cruised into a 29-0 lead by half-time with a stiff breeze at their backs.

And although Cardiff, predictably, had more of the game in the second period, Cov were rarely under any real pressure before scoring two late tries to take the half 21-7 and underline their dominance.

It was a performance which promised much and was just what the coaching team were looking for.

“To be honest, we probably got a bit more from it than we expected,” said player-coach Scott Hamilton.

“We got off the bus after a three-hour journey, they put us in a changing room five minutes’ walk from the pitch so we had to bring everything out with us and couldn’t go back in after the warm-up, and I was a little bit nervous about how we would start. But after the first couple of minutes we dominated and it looked like Cardiff were the side that got off the bus, so full credit to the boys.

“I think there is a lot of anticipation and excitement now for the season ahead.”

Cov were steadied by an early Caolan Ryan penalty before they returned a clearance kick with interest, Rob Knox punching through the midfield to set up an unconverted try for Ryan Hough.

Devlin Hope was on the end of a line-out drive for the second try, converted by Ryan, and with Cardiff hooker Marc Breeze in the sin bin, further converted tries followed for Loti Molitika and Knox before the break.

Sam Pailor, now at No.8, scored the fifth try off the back of a scrum, Adam Canning taking over kicking duties to convert, before a flurry of changes took some of the momentum away from the visitors for the next 20 minutes.

Cardiff finally put points on the board with a converted Chris Williams try 12 minutes from time, but – down to 14 men following a yellow card for Matt Price – Cov responded with two long-range efforts in as many minutes from James Tincknell and Canning, who converted both, to put the seal on a fine squad display.

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