A 62-point game unfortunately didn’t fall in favour of the travelling Archers, Nottingham being edged in an IPA Greene King Championship clash at the Butts Park Arena, home of Coventry.

Numerous tries were scored, the Archers chipping in with four of their own, the hosts were just that little more accurate, with tries (five, and one penalty try), and with the boot, although the Archers would be the ones to strike first.

Inside the opening ten minutes, and following a couple of early penalties, the Nottingham backs burst through the Coventry edge, releasing Charlie Thacker to cross and get the ball rolling; unfortunately for the Archers, Morgan Bunting missing with the conversion.

The next twenty minutes though, belonged to the hosts, going from five points down, to nine ahead, within the blink of an eye and first they burst through the middle, having peeled off a line-out, with Will Rigg feeding Will Wand, his fellow centre crossing for the score, Will Talbot-Davies registering his first conversion of the afternoon in addition.

Ten minutes later and the hosts had extended their lead, one which they never lost; breaking off the back of a lineout, the ball is quickly moved over to Wand, however, a deliberate block from David Williams sees a penalty try successfully converted.

Keeping themselves within touching distance, the Archers crossed again on 34 minutes, the visitors capitalising on some strong powerplay with Jack Dickinson crossing, Bunting’s conversion also good as Nottingham moved within two.

Both sides awarded penalties over the following exchanges before the hosts cross for a third time as Will Chudley threads the ball through from the scrum base, James Martin being seen to glide over on the far side, Talbot-Davies adding the extra, it affording the hosts a nine-point, interval lead.

Coventry started the second in the same vein as they finished the first, crossing for the try; just five minutes had elapsed when a simple pass out of the ruck sees Talbot-Davies dive over in the corner, however, he fails to convert his own score, the hosts moving fourteen ahead.

Another try from the hosts stretched their advantage to twenty-one points, with a little shy of fifty played after Martin, and James Tyas, burst through the Archers midfield, reaching the try-line as Suva Ma’asi crosses well, and Talbot-Davies is again good with the boot.

Minutes later and the Archers dented the hosts’ lead when Harry Clayton gets through the middle, releasing winger Harry Graham, and his speed sees him cross on the far side, Bunting’s kick also good; however, another try from the hosts took the wind out of the Archers sails.

After some back-and-forth action between the two sides, it would be the hosts who’d another try to their afternoon’s haul as Tiki Nayalo, with a couple of Archers defenders holding onto him, powers over the line, the conversion attempt though is wide of the upright.

Still time for more, the visitors would add their fourth try of the afternoon in the closing stages when substitute Michael Green crosses in the near corner, Bunting however, again sends the conversion attempt wide, the hosts holding out for a fourteen-point, home success.

Nottingham XV – 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Dickinson, 3 Xavier Valentine, 4 Jack Shine, 5 Scott Hall, 6 George Cox, 7 Carl Kirwan, 8 Josh Poullet, 9 Liam Slatem, 10 Morgan Bunting, 11 Harry Graham, 12 Jack Neville, 13 Charlie Thacker, 14 David Williams, 15 Jordan Olowofela

Afterwards, Nottingham, Head Coach, Craig Hammond, said of the game: “The boys put in a decent performance (yesterday) down at Coventry.

“We were disappointed with a couple of areas, and had pretty dominant set-pieces for the first half, but fell away in the second, which put us under pressure, and a couple of our exits gave them easy opportunities to get into our 22.

“But they’re a bloody good team and they’re third in the league for a reason.”

As for the game itself, bonus point achieved, Hammond’s side went looking for an added point late on, which a fifth try would have given them.

He added: “It was really positive from our guys for the effort to get the four tries and the bonus, chasing one more try at the end to get two bonus points, but just missed out there.

“There’s a few niggles and injuries, but they stepped up and played some good rugby, but, against the top teams, if we’re not accurate with our set-pieces, our exits, we found that out yesterday.”

Next up for the Archers, the last match of the season, and a home encounter, under Lady Bay’s Friday Night Lights, on Friday 28, against relegation-threatened London Scottish.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @NottinghamRugby Craig Hammond was overall positive about Nottingham’s display.