By John Wilkinson ‘THE best yet’ was how director of rugby Rowland Winter summed up Coventry Rugby’s performance after their crushing 42-0 win at Darlington Mowden Park.
Cov took away Park’s unbeaten home record in convincing style, scoring six tries, to extend their advantage at the top of National League One to 26 points over yesterday’s hosts with seven games left to play.
“It was probably our best performance of the season to date,” said Winter.
“We set ourselves a benchmark because the last time we went away from home to a big team was Blackheath, we lost heavily, and it was recent in the memory.
“It was involved in Nick Walshe’s team talk beforehand, and we had to come here and make a statement.
“I think we got the luck of the bounce and a few things went our way, but you create your own luck and the work rate of the boys was outstanding.
“There were a few guys running on empty at the end, but that’s because pf the shifts they’d put in and it was an absolutely outstanding performance.”
Cov went ahead inside two minutes with a converted try, but it was their defence over the next dozen or so minutes in the face of a Park onslaught which proved decisive.
Sad Winter: “The first try settled the nerves, but the key moment was when we conceded three penalties and were camped on our own line but we turned them over and went the length of the pitch to score. That showed our intent to play.
“We wanted to come here and get four tries, we surpassed that, and to nil a team that’s the next best team in the league and been unbeaten at home all season, to not even let them get a point, says everything about the performance.
“The bench came on and made an impact, they all played their part, and to be able to make those interchanges without any drop in performance says a lot about how tight this group are and the standard they can perform at.
“I still think there’s a little but more to come from them, I think they’re going to continue to develop. The work the coaches are putting in is really starting to show on the pitch and it’s growing every week.
“The last fortnight with Darlington losing and us getting maximum points has made it a big momentum swing, and with seven games to go we’re in a good spot, the ball’s in our court.
“This is brilliant.”
