Rugby League
Coventry Bears fall short to defending champions

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BEARS player coach Tom Tsang blames a disruption in preparation after watching his side slip to their first defeat of the season against last year's champions Huddersfield.

The Bears were defeated 14-30 by Huddersfield Underbank Rangers at the Xcel Centre, Canley, on Saturday (May 19).

Tries from Tsang himself, Ross Bayston and Stephen Coleman wern't enough despite another spirited performance as the Bears dropped down to seventh in the Conference National Division.

"This was always going to be a tough game against last years champions," said Tsang.

"Preparations were affected by four withdrawals from the squad within 24 hours before kick off, which meant a reshuffled back line, altering what we had been working on in training.

"These distractions clearly affected us as we started fairly slowly.

"The effort and determination we put in to the game was plain to see and at times our defence was devastating.

"There are of course a lot of positives we can take from the game - we are for all intents and purposes a brand new team with players who are still getting used to each other's styles, running lines and timing."

Tsang's side now have a two-week break to reflect on their defeat and put things right in training.

And they will be looking to bounce straight back to winning ways when they travel to Bristol Sonics on June 2.

"We have a very talented bunch here and with time together and a consistent team sheet I am very confident we can put this set-back behind us," Tsang added.

"Often you can learn more from losing a match than winning, and I believe this will be the case here.

"We will look at the video from the game and work out where we need to concentrate our efforts in training.

"I believe the more we play and train together the better we will get."

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