Pilkington Recs Match Preview

Sunday 18th March 3pm at Butts Park Arena

It’s a return to Cup action in Coventry for a Challenge Cup fourth round tie against NCL club Pilkington Recs. This comes courtesy of the Bears first ever home cup tie which they won against Distington in front of the BBC TV cameras. That victory put the Bears into the draw for the fourth round for the first time, and once again they find themselves pitted against opposition from lower down the RL pyramid.

The prize for Sundays victors could be a money spinning tie against Warrington, Leigh or Hull KR, so everything’s to play for and it won’t be easy.

But first, where is Pilkington, it sounds familiar? Its not a place, but the name of a famous glass company, situated in a famous glass manufacturing town, St Helens, home of the top Super League team which does carry the town’s name. So we are up against a team from the games ‘Lancashire’ [now Merseyside] heartland, steeped in the game. And the windscreen in your car may carry the Pilkington logo!

The Recs [short for recreational] have a long and proud history, and are unique in being founded as a works rugby union side, who converted to soccer, before being reformed in 1947 as a Rugby League team. Over the years they have produced some good players who have moved on into the semi-pro game, so there could be up and coming talent on both sides this Sunday. There is history between the two sides who played as recently as 2013, when the then NCL members Bears lost at home to the Recs.

The Bears go into the game fresh from their first league win of the season but with injuries to captain Chris Barratt and hooker Lewis Lord, but the strength in depth still gives coach Tom Tsang options.

Tom will be taking nothing for granted in another cup tie where the opposition are well fancied underdogs with a record of victories over higher placed opposition such as Bears rivals London Skolars.

Head Coach Tom says; "After the Hemel win, we have had a good energy about training this week. Its amazing what getting a couple of wins under the belt can do for the confidence of a side. We were still pretty rusty at times last Sunday so we know we still have a long way to go before we are the finished product, but we are definitely going in the right direction.

"Pilkington pose a really intriguing challenge this week - I am sure they will be pretty confident of getting a win. There is a thought that the top end of the amateur ranks are even, if not higher in playing standard than parts of League 1. Having been involved with teams in both environments, there is no doubt that the NCL is a quality competition and Pilkington are a  premium side, but we are happy with the favourites tag and will be working hard to make sure that title is deserved.

"It's a historic day for us as a club, playing in the Challenge Cup 4th round for the first time and the prospect of a 5th round tie against a top side is motivation enough for our young side."

Memberships are not valid for Sundays game and all fans can purchase tickets in advance by clicking here.

The Coventry Bears Squad will be as follows:

1.     Jason Bass

2.    Hayden Freeman

3.    Dante Morley-Samuels

4.    Kam Pearce-Paul

5.    Errol Carter

6.    Paul Emmanuelli

7.     Ben Stead

8.     James Geurtjens

9.     Zak Williams

10.   John Aldred

11.   Kieran Sherratt

12.   James Mason

13.   Chris Vitalini

14.   Liam Rice Wilson

15.   Ben Gray

16.   Dan Gover

17.   Harry Kaufman

18.   Joel Thomas

19.   Charlie Clarke

Kam the man to strengthen Bears' 2018 campaign

Coventry Bears have moved to strengthen their options in the backline, by bringing in Kam Pearce-Paul on loan from Championship side London Broncos. 

Kameron Pearce-Paul (Kam) said about joining the Bears on loan, “I am really excited about the opportunity that Coventry have given me. They are a very good side and hopefully I can get back playing for them at my very best.”

Kam plays predominantly as a centre but can also cover Wing and Fullback. He has a handful of first team caps for London who currently sit top in the Championship, as well as an impressive loan spell at Oldham in the Championship last year. 

Danny Ward, Head Coach of London Broncos commented: “Due to the depth of our outside backs, Kam has found his opportunities limited this season with the Broncos. This is a great opportunity for him to get regular game time and continue the progress he has been making.”

The recently turned 21-year-old, who has also spent time on loan to Hemel Stags is a great fit for Coventry Bears and the timing works well for all parties.

Head Coach, Tom Tsang is pleased with this recent signing: “Bringing Kam in solves a couple of problems for us as we have suffered a few injuries to key players in recent games. We have players who can cover a number of positions similar to Kam so it gives us flexibility in finding the best combinations. He is in good physical condition coming from a very professional environment at London - he will give us a bit more size in the backline and his experience will also be a good thing for our younger players in the squad.

“He comes in on a month’s loan initially, but depending on circumstances there is an option to extend this to a much longer stint through the season. It should work out well for all parties as Kam's partner lives in Northampton which will allow him to train fully with us through the week. I'm looking forward to seeing the positive impact he will have on the group.”

It is hoped Kam will feature in the squad for the Bears' home Challenge Cup tie against Pilkington Recs this Sunday, kick off 3pm at the Butts Park Arena. 

You can purchase tickets for Sundays game by clicking here.

First half domination puts the Bears on course for victory

Hemel Stags 16 Coventry Bears 22

Match Report by Mike Hyde

The Bears gained their first points of the season with a hard-fought victory down in Hemel Hempstead.

Nears roared off the starting blocks and within four minutes signalled their intent as Errol Carter scored over on the right. Within minutes it was Dante Morley-Samuels opening his account with the help of Kieron Sherratt, and Ben Stead made no mistake with the conversion to make it 0-10.

Jason Bass was next to go on the scoresheet as he crossed over midway through the first half. Hemel then started to fight back but the Bears went in with a 16-0 lead thanks to some good defending. The Stags came out refreshed and were soon on the scoreboard pulling the margin back to ten points.

After some stout defending against a resurgent home side, Harry Chapman burrowed over and Ben Stead converted to put the scoreline at 6-22. The Stags were wounded, but by no means finished and scored again with just eight minutes left. A momentary Bears lapse let them over again, but the Bears hung on to emerge victorious 16-22.

Speaking after the match, Bears Head Coach Tom Tsang reflected:  

‘We started off with good intensity and played with fast tempo which is what we needed. We raced out to a lead and at that point needed to stick to the plan but we started to go wide too early which let Hemel off the hook. That combined with some unforced errors meant we went in at halftime not as far ahead as we could have been. In the second half we made more errors and Hemel got their tails up. 

We dominated the opening 30 minutes and that 3 try buffer was enough in the end. 

In the second half we had defended 4 back to back sets before Ben Stead came up with an intercept and ran 50 meters which set us up for our last try which nudged us out of range.

Obviously, it’s great to get our first league win of the season. We also had 3 debutants in Liam Rice-Wilson, James Mason and Ben Gray. All worked extremely hard and contributed positively to our win.’

Bears Man of the match:

Ben Gray. In his first game for us he was tireless in defence and carried the ball strongly. With more game time he will only improve and will grow into a real leader of our pack. 

Next game is the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup Round 4 - Bears v Pilkington Recs. Buy your tickets here

Hemel Stags Preview & Squad

 This week’s opponents: Hemel Stags

Bears v Stags

Pennine Way Hemel 2pm kick off

Sunday 11th March  

After the disappointment of last weeks game being called off, the Bears are on their travels this weekend as they travel down to Hemel Hempstead on Sunday for an away League 1 fixture.

The Bears and the Stags have a friendly rivalry going back to their days as top amateur teams, flying the flag for Rugby League in what may still be described as non-traditional areas for the sport.

Hemel joined the semi-pro ranks in 2013, along with Gloucester and Oxford. Those two clubs are no longer inexistence, but Hemel have a solid base and own their ground and clubhouse and benefit from revenues they bring.

On the field, they have struggled, citing a lack of local talent, and they took the drastic step of basing themselves in the North of England, first at Dewsbury, and now at Sheffield. Their players are from the North, train in the North and come down the M1 on matchdays.

Coventry’s strategy is completely different, focusing on developing the game and players across a tract of the Midlands, so the match is a clash of not just two relatively new clubs, but of approaches to the semi-pro game. 

In their first League game of the season, the Bears were well beaten away at Doncaster, and the Stags lost at home to Hunslet.

Last June, the Bears beat their rivals 28-24 at home in the league,  and again 29-26 in the playoffs, but this time the game is at Pennine way, Hemel Hempstead, so a close game could be on the cards.

And then the focus returns to the Challenge Cup, with the Bears in the fourth round for the first time against Pilkington Recs at the Butts Park Arenaon Sunday 18th March kick off 2pm. 

Bears 19 man squad:

Harry Chapman

Hayden Freeman

Dante Morley-samuels

Jason Bass

Errol Carter

Liam Rice Wilson

Ben Stead

James Geurtjens

Zak Williams

John Aldred

Kieran Sherratt

Chris Barratt

Chris Vitalini

Dan Gover

Alex Beddows

Ben Gray

James Mason

Charlie Clarke

Joél Thomas

More New Signings

Tom Tsang Strengthens the Bears

With the 2018 season underway, Tom Tsang, Head Coach, has been busy strengthening the Bears with a few new signings and some, not so new. Tom introduces his signings below:

James Mason

James has been trialling with us for about a month now and has impressed enough in training to earn a contract for the rest of the season. James was a member of last years Gloucestershire All Golds squad, making a couple of appearances - he is a second row or loose forward - positions we were light in after Owen Jones picked up a knee injury. 

James also represented England in last year's Student World Cup in Australia alongside a number of our existing squad, so he has slotted straight in. As a forward he is on the small side so he needs to show us he can handle the physical side, but he has good energy with everything he does and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with this opportunity.

James commented "When Mark [Sloan] offered me the opportunity to train at the Bears I jumped at the chance. I know quite a few of the boys playing at the Bears and I have only heard positive things from them about the club. This was the deciding factor in me wanting to sign. I am looking forward to getting stuck in and gaining game time and developing as a player. I hope to make this season as successful for the club as I can and be an asset to the team and cement a spot in the starting team. Many thanks Tom and Mark and the management team for this opportunity."

James Mason - one of Bears new signings

Ben Gray

Ben, 22, is a Leicester lad and came through the Midlands Academy - the same cohort as Bears centre Jason Bass. At 18, he joined London Broncos for two seasons, where he was loaned out to London Skolars. Ben actually played against us a few times during this period and was always a consistent performer. Benny then went to play in Brisbane's A grade competition for the West Panthers where he established himself as a regular in the Panthers pack. Ben has since returned to the UK and is studying at University. He can play most of the forward positions, but we will be looking at him as another option at loose forward or prop. He is in great shape and will add a different dimension to our pack.

Ben commented "Tom spoke to me back in November and the conversation we had was really positive about the Bears future. Being from Leicester, the bears have been on my radar for a while so i thought being back in the UK long term, it would be a great opportunity. Also knowing a few players that I played with in the academy system helped make the decision [to sign] easier. 

I'm forward to be back playing in England again. I went to Brisbane to fall back in love with game after my previous two years had been rocky and it did exactly that. 

I want to help the club progress and be successful. I think its possible for us to finish in the top 10 and if we did it would be great as it would give confidence to players, staff and fans that Coventry has the ability to compete with the best in league 1."

Cameron Stewart

Cameron is a current member of the Midlands Academy and another Leicester born player in the squad which further boosts the Bear's commitment to developing and giving opportunities to local talent.

Cameron has only been playing League for a year, having converted from Union, but as a project player he is already showing great development. 

Greg Mannion the boss of the Midlands hurricanes has taught Cameron some strong fundamentals and Cameron has good Rugby League instincts - he plays direct and has good footwork and ball-skills. I am really excited by the prospect of what Cameron could become - his potential is huge, he just needs to keep working hard and his chance will come.

Jamahl Hunte

Jamahl should be no stranger to anyone who has followed the Bears since we joined League 1 as he was part of our inaugural squad and has since racked up 30 tries in 46 appearances - a club record. 

The winger has finally been able to put pen to paper after work commitments prevented him from joining us at the start of pre-season, however now he is back on board, we will be working with him to get his fitness up to where it needs to be to compete for a place in the game-day squad. We are now blessed with some exciting outside backs who will be pushing each other every week. With Jamma you know you have a potential game winner - he will no doubt take a few weeks to knock off any rust, but once he does, he will be a great option. 

Jamma commented "I'm really happy to be signing with the Bears once more. I feel this club is really going places and progressing at a great pace, I'm also very grateful for how much support everyone at this club has shown me and I'm looking forward to hopefully repaying that faith on the field."

Player Sponsorship

These players and others are seeking player sponsorship to help fund their season in League 1. For £300 you or your business could sponsor a player and feature your name on the players profile page, in the match day programme, mentions on match days and other benefits agreed with the specific player. For more information see our sponsorship page on the website or contact alan.robinson@coventrybears.co.uk or debbie.watson@coventrybears.co.uk.

Postponed - Bears v York

Postponement due to weather

Due to the weather in recent days, including freezing temperatures and even more snow overnight, it is confirmed that Sunday's game (4th March) due to take place against York City Knights has had to be postponed. For the safety of players, staff and all fans the decision was taken by the match referee to call off the game on the morning of 3rd March. Once rescheduled, at the earliest convenience for both clubs, information will be made available via the teams' websites and social media. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Challenge Cup Round 4 Confirmed

 

Sunday 18th March

It's confirmed, Coventry Bears will welcome Pilkington Recs ARLC to the Butts Park Arena on Sunday 18th March for the 4th Round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup. Whilst it is the first time for Coventry Bears to reach this round in the national competition, it is the second time in three years for Pilkington Recs, so its certain to be a very competitive game for both teams. 

Tickets are available to purchase in advance and gates open from 12:30pm. Please click here or on the above image to get your tickets.

Bears march on

Bears march on to next round

COVENTRY BEARS 42 DISTINGTON ARLFC 12

Mike Hyde, Butts Park arena, Sunday 25th February

It was a cold bright day at Butts Park and the BBC cameras were in place to stream the Bears first ever home Challenge Cup round three tie to a vastly bigger audience than has ever watched these two sides before, and who represent very different aspects of the game.

Distington, the long established amateur side from the Cumbrian Heartland of the game, had a 460 mile round trip and entered as underdogs.

This meant that Coventry Bears were playing in the unaccustomed role of Goliath facing up to David.

The Bears kicked off and were soon on the offensive, and were soon showing inventiveness in attack, with an incisive kick by Ben Stead cutting the Distington defence, but the away side soon recovered.

The Cumbrians continued to defend well, forcing Chapman into touch, and were soon on the offensive themselves.

Distington’s Kieran Richie came close, but their first points were to come from a penalty as Clayton Sutton put the Cumbrian side into the lead

The game was close and tense with little between the sides. The Bears were next to gain a penalty close in but chose to run with the ball, a decision proved correct as Harry Chapman crossed the line and Ben Stead converted to put the League 1 side 6-2 up.

The two sides still appeared evenly matched, and following a kick which Dante Morley-Samuels couldn’t hold, Gregory Bedford sprinted to the try line, and Suttons conversion made it 6-8 in favour of Distington.

Coventry’s attacking flair came to the rescue as Jason Bass snatched back the lead having caught a superb Emanuellili kick..

Stead was the instigator of the Bears next score with a kick fumbled in the corner, allowing Jason Bass an easy chance. Stead’s conversion put the score at 18-8 for half time.

The second half started with both teams still believing they could win, and Distington played a long ball into the corner which was uncharacteristically fumbled by Harry Chapman on the line allowing Bedford to get four points for the visitors. The conversion fell short, but there was now just six points between the sides.

A period of prolonged attack finally paid dividends for the Bears as Chris Barratt crossed over, followed two minutes later by Lewis Lord. The two conversions gave the hosts a 30-12 lead.

With a quarter of an hour left, Hayden Freeman was the final recipient of a string of passes. And Stead was yet again successful with the conversion.

The game was now over but Harry Chapman scored one more time for the Bears and the conversion sealed it at 42-12

Distington’s Head Coach Carl Hewer was proud of his side, ‘for long spells we were equals’ he told us ’but Coventry deserved the win’ he freely acknowledged.

Tom Tsang Bears Head coach was pleased with the way his side dealt with potentially tricky opposition, ‘I am delighted we are through to the fourth round for the first time in our history, yet another milestone for the club, and lets hope we get a good draw! But we now have to focus on the league again, and next week’s opponents are a very strong side, so there’s a few things we will be working on in the light of today’s game’

Next game Sunday 4th March 3pm kick off at the Butts Park Arena v York City Knights

MATCHFACTS

BEARS

  1 Harry Chapman 

  2 Hayden Freemanb

  3 Dante Morley Samuels

  4 Jason Bass

  5 Errol Carter

  6 Paul Emanuelli

  7 Ben Stead

  8 Dan Gover

  9 Lewis Lord

10 Callum Bradbury

11 Kieran Sherratt

12 Chris Barratt

13 Chris Vitalini

Subs (all used)

15 Lewis Russell

16 Harry Kaufman

19 James Guertjens

18 John Aldred

Tries: Chapman (13,75) Bass (35, 38) Barratt (54) Lord(63) Freeman (64)

Goals: Stead  7/7

DISTINGTON

  1 Steven Conway

  2 Gregory Bedford

  3 Liam Friel

  4 Gavin Martin

  5 Ryan Hodgson

  6 Clayton Sutton

  7 Sean Sutton

  8 Bryan Ritchie

  9 Jamie Friel

10 Carl Stephenson

11 Grant Dryden

12 Kieran Ritchie

13Subs (all used)

14 Matthew Hewer

15 Shaun Adams

16 Liam McNichols

17 Stephen Clarke

Tries: Bedford (25,42)

Goals:Sutton 2/3

Man of the Match: Ben Stead

Penalty count: 11-12

Half-time: 18-8

Referee: C Worsley

Attendance: 267

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-2, 6-2, 6-8,121-8,18-8;   18-12, 24-12, 30-12, 36-12, 42-12

Doncaster Match Report

Classy Dons teach Bears a lesson

Doncaster 70 Coventry 10

By Mike Hyde

The League 1 season kicked off in earnest on Sunday with the Bears first game being a tough away game at much-fancied Doncaster. There was a good crowd at the Keepmoat Stadium as Doncaster fans came out to support a team which has strengthened considerably in the close season and has a close relationship with Superleague Hull F.C.

The Bears meanwhile had also been busy in the close season, recruiting players from across the Midlands and getting them to start performing as a cohesive unit.

At first the Dons were rather shaky, and the Bears took an early lead on five minutes following a Dons error. Hayden Freeman crossed the line, but Paul Emanuelli was unable to capitalise on the conversion.

The Dons pulled back just three minutes later with a try from Jason Tali, and then four minutes later they were over again, courtesy of Brad England and with both tries converted it stood at 12-4.

That score remained until Bears’ Lewis Lord sneaked over, with Emanuelli putting the ball between the sticks this time. Dons 12 Bears 10, game on…………..

However, the home side were quick to respond and the 8 point margin was quickly restored.

Then with two minutes to go before the half time hooter, the Dons stepped up a gear and ran in two tries in quick succession, blows from which the Bears were never to recover as they went into the dressing room 30-10 down.

The Bears came out in a determined mood, but gradually the hosts took over again, scoring steadily every five minutes and usually managing to convert.

With twelve minutes left, the dreaded half century was reached as the Dons made it 52-10.

The procession of home tries continued but Vitalini gave the small band of travelling Coventry supporters something to cheer about as he crossed the line for the Bears only to have it disallowed which rather summed up the days outing.

The final score of 70-10 was a disappointment but Doncaster were clearly the better side and already look like being at or very near the top come the seasons end, with Hakim Miloudi a star turn, scoring a club record of 32 points in a game.  

So, a setback, but not an unexpected defeat for the Bears, and now coach Tom Tsang will be looking ahead to Cup action next Sunday at the Butts Park arena when the Bears face Cumbrian side Dristington in a 3pm kick-off.   

DONS XIII | Owen, Jones-Bishop, Bower, Tali, Doherty, Miller, Harris, Boyle, Kesik, Scott, England, Martin, Hedges. Interchange: Braham, Spiers, Cross, Miloudi (D/R).

DONS TRIES | Tali (7 & 49), England (11), Spiers (26 & 36), Harris (33 & 77), Braham (47), Miloudi (60, 66, 70 & 80). DONS GOALS | Miller (7, 11 & 26), Miloudi (33, 36, 47, 49, 66, 70, 77, 80)

COVENTRY XIII | Chapman, Freeman, Morley-Samuels, Clarke, Carter, Emanuelli, Stead, Geurtjens, Lord, Thomas, Sherratt, Barratt, Vitalini. Interchange: Hughes, Bass, Beddows, Gover.

COVENTRY TRIES | Freeman (5), Lord (22) COVENTRY GOALS | Stead (22)

Doncaster Preview & Squad

Match: Doncaster RL vs Coventry Bears

Date: Sunday 18th February

Venue: Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster

Kick off: 3 pm

Pre-season round up...

We have had a very productive off-season, signing some quality young, locally based players and for the first time have a settled halfback pairing that have worked together the whole of the pre-season. The location of the players is an important factor as this has allowed us to train consistently since November with everyone present, meaning we have been able to work on our playing structures and gameplans from the start. This will continue to pay dividends as we go through the season and new combinations continue to be improved.  

We have brought in a couple of experienced players who will be key to any successes we have through the season. Of these, loose-forward Chris Vitalini and Ben Stead stand out as potential game changers, while local lads Dan Gover, Alex Beddows and Hayden Freeman will look to take their games to the next level.

We have a very tough opening few games in the League - Doncaster away to start the campaign and York at home in Round 2.

On the opposition…

Doncaster have made it clear they want to push for promotion again this season and I expect them to be in or around the top 4 come the end of the season. They have a load of experience across their team, especially in the key positions of hooker and halfback. They have had some close results in pre-season against quality championship opposition and so they will come into Sunday's game full of confidence and expectations of starting their season with a win. We will of course be backing ourselves to cause an upset and gain our own momentum.

Any squad changes…

From last season we have had to say goodbye to a number players who were high performers for us in 2017. Of these, centre Matt Reid, halfback Brad Delaney and prop Brad Brennan are standouts. Matt has been picked up by Oldham and seems to have been turning heads for them through preseason. Brad Delaney has signed for York and will be working hard to find himself in their starting lineup each week. Brad Brennan has found a new lease of life at North Wales. I cant wait to face off against all of these and other former players throughout the season.

Coventry Bears 19 man squad:

1. Harry Chapman

2. Hayden Freeman

3. Dante Morley Samuels

4. Charlie Clarke

5. Errol Carter

6. Paul Emmanuelli

7. Ben Stead

8. James Geurtjens

9. Lewis Lord

10. Joel Thomas

11. Kieran Sherratt

12. Chris Barratt

13. Chris Vitalini

14. Richie Hughes

15. Dan Gover

16. Alex Beddows

17. Jason Bass

18. Callum Bradbury

19. Harry Kaufman

Tickets can be purchased at the Club Doncaster Box Office, on 01302 762576 or at tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk