Richman keeps his cool to win it for Cov

■ By LUKE JARMYN

Caldy ………………15pts

Tries: Cartmill 25, Hearn 55

Conversion: Barker 56

Penalty: Barker 73

Coventry ………..17pts

Tries: Hitchcock 27, Green 68

Conversions: Richman 28, 69

Penalty: Richman 7

LIAM Richman showed he’s got ice in his veins as, despite the high tension ringing round Paton Field amid a nail-biting finale, the fly-half kept his cool from the tee to continue Coventry’s unbeaten run at the top of the Championship.

In a game of fine margins, ex-England international Matt Kvesic’s star quality shone through and was the difference against a spirited Caldy side who showed they don’t deserve to be at the basement of the second tier.

Coventry head coach Alex Rae said: “We’re happy to get a win but fair play to Caldy, they put up a brilliant fight, dragged us into the trenches, slowed the game down and made it a real old school brawl. We gave some 50-50s away with some silly offloads. But credit to us, it’s a fixture we lost last season, but we found a way to get the win.

“It shows how it doesn’t matter who you play in this league, you have no god given right to get the win. I can’t remember the last time we had to kick for a win, but we’ll take it.”

With the autumn sun beaming over the Wirral, Caldy dominated the opening minutes. Coventry’s pink and sky-blue hooped shirts got their first chances in Caldy territory through Ryan Hutler, but handling errors proved costly.

Ravers’ scrum-half Ollie Wynn laid a tempo Cov couldn’t break before a kick to the corner led to a textbook Ravers driving maul. Openside Tristan Woodman splintered Cov, creating space for wing Michael Cartmill on his inside shoulder, dashing over left of the posts.

Caldy’s hard work was quickly undone, Lewis Barker missed a regulation conversion before Cov lock Senitiki Nayalo charged downfield, fed the ball to openside Tom Ball whose pop pass set up Tom Hitchcock to crash over.

Caldy hooker Matt Gallagher saw yellow on the 37th minute, but Coventry couldn’t take advantage and the home side re-took the lead just before the hour-mark with replacement Ollie Hearn’s try the first Cov conceded from a driving maul this season.

The visitors utilised their bench more effectively, and it showed as they gained territory before a Kvesic tap and go from six metres out set up replacement Dan Green to muscle over with James Tyas in support. A high tackle by Will Lane allowed Barker to make amends for his earlier kicking miss.

The game swung like a pendulum, and the attrition told on Caldy. Kvesic came out of nowhere to nick the ball and make 30 metres before Daniel Okeke forced Ravers to cough-up another penalty with Richman slotting the winner.