By Paul Smith 
Coventry got their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign away to a winning start with an eventful six-try success at Nottingham.
The Blue-and-Whites, who led by nine points at the break, eventually pulled away from their East Midlands rivals in the fourth quarter after the hosts lost replacement winger Aman Johal to a red card.
Coventry’s replacement winger David Opoku and scrum-half Josh Barton also received second-half yellow cards from referee Andrew Wigley who awarded 30 penalties during the course of a stop-start match.
With injuries also adding to the disruption, Cov’s back-line underwent multiple changes after the break before Will Lane – who played in three different positions – and Opoku secured the points with an excellent pair of late tries.
A messy opening 20 minutes ended with Nottingham three points ahead through Matthew Arden’s simple penalty.
Coventry’s best opportunity was created by full back Steff Davies’ scorching midfield break only for Liam Richman to overcook a grubber to the corner.
Cov’s no.15 then produced a standout moment at the other end when he recovered possession under his own posts with home winger Sam Mercer threatening to win the race to a kick ahead.
The visitors got their noses in front early in the second quarter when Charlie Robson wriggled to the corner to claim their first score in support of Ryan Hutler’s break.
Richman’s conversion struck the post, but Cov’s leading marksman passed the 50-point threshold for the season a few minutes later when he added the extras to prop Matt Johnson’s first Coventry try.
Daf Tiueti posed plenty of midfield problems to his former club and Cov almost added a third score shortly before the break when the centre’s combination with Davies ended with Suva Ma’asi being unable to hold the try-scoring pass.
Nottingham flew out of the traps after the interval and only a fine last-ditch tackle followed by Johnson’s timely recovery of a loose ball on the ground prevented them registering an opening try.
The penalty count had mounted through the first half and when the newly-arrived Opoku failed to roll away on the ground he was despatched to the sin bin.
And the hosts quickly took advantage of their temporary numerical advantage through winger Taiye Olowofela who regathered a well-placed chip ahead to claim a score that Arden improved.
However, a handling error direct from the kick off allowed Cov to immediately cancel this score out thanks to a typically sharp Ryan Hutler finish plus Richman’s simple conversion.
Johal’s red card followed his mistimed tackle on Hutler and after the winger departed for a head injury assessment the Blue-and-Whites shunted replacement hooker Jordon Poole over for their fourth score.
When Barton then saw yellow both sides had 14 players for ten minutes and during this spell Archers’ lock Jay Ecclesfield claimed his team’s second try from a quickly-tapped penalty.
However, that was as good as it got for the hosts who conceded two further long-distance tries as the contest went into its closing stages.
Opoku who made a telling contribution from the bench claimed the first of these after a well-timed Tom Hitchcock pass and the pacy winger then turned creator with an outside break and perfect offload which sent Lane over for his team’s sixth score.
Line-Ups:
Nottingham: Stapley; Mercer, Roper, Pohe (Goodwin 63), Olowofela (A. Johal 46); Arden (J. Johal 65), Venner; Owen (Sio 56), Harris (Clayton 56), Valentine (Richardson 56); Ecclesfield, Shine; Green (Bryan 57), Wright (Riches 65), Cherry
Coventry: Davies (Opoku 40); Hutler (Lane 57), Tiueti, Hitchcock, Robson; Richman, Barton; Trinder (Nairau 57), Ma’asi (Poole 50), Johnson (Salt 57); Nkwocha (Green 51), Nayalo (Tyas 51); Ball (Okeke 57), Hinkley, Kvesic
Referee: Andrew Wigley
Half-Time: Nottingham 3-12 Coventry Rugby
Attendance: 1219
Scorers:
Nottingham:
Tries: Olowofela (45), Ecclesfield (70)
Conversions: Arden (45)
Penalty: Arden (13)
Coventry:
Tries: Robson (22), Johnson (27), Hutler (48), Poole (58), Opoku (75), Lane (80)
Conversions: Richman (27) (48)
