Coventry v Fylde - Match Preview

With both clubs favouring an open game the scoreboard might get another workout today.

Even though I fancy it will be high scoring, I'm heading into today's game with mixed feelings.

The reason I'm feeling conflicted is that today the Cov team will have loan players from Wasps in the side, whilst some of 'our' players sit out, and in truth that doesn't really sit well with me.  Now there's a lot to like about Wasps; they play with flair and style, and they're led by a coach in Dai Young who goes up in my respect every time I hear him speak.  However, in my opinion they simply should not be here in Coventry - I see them as a 'franchise' operation and that's not something that I'm comfortable supporting even if in some way it turns out to be to Cov's benefit.

Anyway, that's the negative stuff out of the way, and it is just my opinion - others will differ!  I obviously wish the individuals involved (Jack Willis at blindside flanker, Owain James and Tom Howe on the wings) every success both for us and in their future at Wasps.  It's also a really big day for durable second row Tom Poole, who marks his 100th league appearance for Cov by leading the team out.

The Coventry team is shown below, there's more detail in John Wilkinson's article on the official site with Tom Little's full preview of the rest of the NL1 fixtures also being avaiable on the same page.

COVENTRY: 15 James Stokes. 14 Tom Howe, 13 Corey Hircock, 12 Will Maisey, 11 Owain James, 10 Tony Fenner (captain), 9 Rhodri Adamson, 1 Boris Stankovich, 2 Scott Tolmie, 3 Phil Boulton, 4 Tom Poole, 5 Brendon Snyman, 6 Jack Willis, 7 Sam Harry, 8 Ali Bone.

Replacements: 16 Matt Price, 17 Andy Brown, 18 Darrell Dyer, 19 Pete White, 20 Rob Knox. Reserves: 21 Jimmy Litchfield, 22 Cliffie Hodgson.