COVENTRY Bears made a welcome return to winning ways as they chalked up their sixth League One victory at the weekend with a 28-18 success over West Wales Raiders.
Raiders remain at the foot of the table but they certainly gave the Bears a scare with a determined performance better than their position suggests.
Bears were first to score courtesy of Hayden Freeman who nicely latched on to a Ben Stead kick to bag the first try after seven minutes.
Stead’s conversion made it 6-0.
Then it was Liam Rice-Wilson’s turn to cross the line and another conversion, this time by Paul Emanuelli, made it 12-0.
But then the home side showed some of the determination they have shown in defeat to pull themselves back into a game by now strewn with errors and niggles.
Steve Parry scored their first try and a second was added a few minutes later by Sam Baker.
Both were converted and the score was now level at 12-12.
After the break the Bears were soon quashing the Raiders’ hopes of an upset, thanks to a try from Ashley Bateman which Emanuelli duly converted.
The lead was further extended as Hayden Freeman crossed over for his second of the afternoon.
However, Raiders were still capable of striking and causing damage and their reward was a third try leaving the score at a nail-biting 22-18 in Bears’ favour.
The Bears dug deep and showed their composure and professionalism as Kieran Sherrat’s try sealed victory.
