HEAD coach Tom Tsang witnessed what he labelled as Coventy Bears’ best performance of the season, despite his side suffering a 40-16 defeat at Hunslet in League One.
Although it was yet another defeat for the Bears, this one was not a one-sided walkover for a team challenging for promotion in fifth place.
The Bears have been on the end of some thumpings in recent weeks but their dogged display on Sunday was met with fine praise by Tsang.
“It was undoubtedly an improvement on the last few performances and possibly our best of the year,” he said.
“Resilience and an unbending resolve to keep going and keep fighting is what defines the Coventry Bears team and the match reflected that.
“Despite the final scoreline we can take confidence we are capable of matching our more experienced opponents.
“We have given ourselves a performance we can use to springboard into the second half of the season.”
Bolstered by two Hull KR players, who are with the Bears under a dual registration agreement with their parent club, the Bears showed more of their customary grit from the kick-off.
Although they found themselves six points down within the first five minutes, it was one of those players, Joe Caitor, who grabbed a try on his Bears debut after eight minutes.
The two sides then slugged it out at both ends and ironically it was on a sustained Coventry attack that the ball was lost and Hunslet’s David Foggin-Johnston scooped it up and ran the full length of the field.
He scored a second try a few minutes later, but then the Bears never-say-die attitude kicked in as Paul Emanuelli crafted a neat kick.
Chris Barratt pounced on it for Bears second try of the afternoon and this time Ben Stead added the conversion, giving a respectable half time score of 18-10.
The Bears defence was caught off guard just two minutes into the second half as Nathan Chappell crossed the line, with Sanderson successfully converting.
However, the Bears were not about to give in as James Mason scored a try in reply and Stead again converted, putting the score at 24-16 midway through the second half.
However, that was to prove the highest point for the Bears as the home side scored two tries with the game still ten minutes away from its conclusion.
The Bears would not surrender and they fought hard to get back into the game.
However, in a copy of what had happened in the first half, Nathan Chappel intercepted the ball on a Bears attack and ran the full length of the pitch to seal the game at 40-16.
