Coventry Bears boss rues woeful performance - The Coventry Observer

Coventry Bears boss rues woeful performance

Coventry Editorial 11th May, 2018   0

HEAD coach Tom Tsang was left bitterly disappointed after Coventry Bears’ 98-6 drubbing to Keighley Cougars in League One.

Keighley opened the scoring with a converted Benn Hardcastle try.

It all seemed to be going to plan for the Bears when Rhys Gant pulled a try back and Ben Stead’s kick levelled the score at 6-6, but then the onslaught resumed as Matthew Bailey crossed over with a quarter of an hour gone.

And that was it as the Cougars ran in five more tries to go into the interval with an unassailable 42-6 lead.




At which point it seemed things could not get worse, but the second half was as bleak and unforgiving as the nearby setting of Wuthering Heights as the home side scored a whole procession of tries, with the Bears unable to find any meaningful reply.

And so it ended with Keighley’s score mercifully falling short of a hundred but still it was the Bears’ biggest ever defeat.


“Perhaps it was a hangover from the two big away games at Bradford and at Superleague Widnes,” said Tsang.

“Or it was an aftershock from the previous week’s home game which slipped away from them at the end.

“Maybe this side isn’t yet a fully gelled team but either way it was disappointing.

“The team needs to do a lot of soul searching to turn things around.”

Tsang will want a better performance from the Bears on Saturday when they welcome second-placed York City Knights to the Butts Park Arena.

Two weeks ago the Knights recorded the biggest victory the game has ever seen, beating West Wales Raiders 144-0 to demonstrate the gulf between Northern and newer sides away from the game’s heartlands.

“If we can reproduce some of the attacking flair and be consistent the players can only improve on their last outing,” added Tsang.

Support community journalism by making a contribution.

The Coventry Observer's team of journalists provide a trusted source news, sport, entertainment and events going on in your area and issues which matter to you - both via our free weekly print edition and daily updates on our website.

Every contribution, however big or small, you can make will help us continue to do that now and in the future.

Thanks for reading this and the Coventry Observer.

Are you on Facebook?

Like or follow our Facebook page - facebook.com/CovObserver to get daily news updates straight to your news feed.

Online Editions

Catch up on your local news by reading our e-editions on the Coventry Observer.

Reader Travel

Check out all of the latest reader travel offers to get your hands on some free gifts.

Buy Photos

Buy photos online from the Coventry Observer newspaper.

Printing

We can provide all of your printing needs at competitive rates.