Rugby League
Coventry Bears coach hails emphatic victory

Buy photos » Man of the match Ross Bayston makes a strong tackle. (s)

BEARS coach Tom Tsang labelled his side's 32-10 win at Kippax Knights as the best he has witnessed during his time at the club.

The Bears fell 4-0 behind early on in blustery conditions at Long Dyke Lane but two tries from Drew Harper and further scores from Ross Bayston and Harry Kaufman put the visitors firmly in control by half time.

The Knights managed to close the gap to 12 points shortly after the re-start but Bayton's second try of the match and simple score under the posts from Dave O'Connor earned the win.

"This is a fantastic result for the lads," said Tsang.

"We spoke before the game about how this would be a physical game, against a tough and aggressive team.

"Kippax certainly lived up to that reputation and sometimes beyond it, but credit to all the Coventry players involved because they all stood up to the task and proved we are a better rugby league team.

"This win wasn’t based on fancy attacking plays or offloads, the victory came as a result of rugged and hard working defence.

"It was as good a display as I have witnessed since being involved with Coventry."

The win pushes the Bears up to fifth in the Conference League Division Three, seven points off leaders Hemel Stags but Tsang's side have two games in hand. The two side play on Sunday.

Tsang added: "We set a benchmark against Bristol last week in terms of our attacking play, and now we have done the same with our defence.

"If we can now put the two together consistently, we will be a hard team to play."

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