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Coventry made their point in more ways than one against bitter rivals Bees as

they coasted to a straightforward victory over their neighbours and secured

only their third try bonus of the season in the process.

Limp Bees were effectively out after three first half strikes and it was Heath

Stevens' effort in the second that brought Cov a rare maximum haul,

something Phil Maynard's side must achieve with greater regularity if they are

to keep pace near the top of National One.

And if the evidence of this game is anything to go by they certainly should do

that with the fact the tries were split equally between forwards and backs,

Ethan Waller, Benjy Dechartres and Mark O'Connor joined Stevens over the

visitors' line, suggesting Coventry are dangerous on more than one front.

First they tenderised their opponents with a series of pulverising driving mauls,

which put Waller over for his second score in consecutive games.

Then they carved them to pieces as the increasingly assured O'Connor sliced

through for the second try of his burgeoning Coventry career.

Soon after Dechartres galloped down the left wing like a rhino on the rampage

after a series of adroit off-loads and five minutes after the break Stevens

seized an opportunistic fourth when he exploited an unmanned short-side

from 30m.

But there should have been more, perhaps many more and if they are honest

with themselves Cov will reflect they left 40-plus points and an opportunity to

really scuttle Bees below the waterline, out on the Butts Park pitch.

Not that they should be too hard on themselves, they were after all coming

into a local derby on the back of a chastening experience at Fylde, who last

week really set a benchmark for chance-taking.

And there was always the danger a Bees team, rejuvenated by their win over

Macclesfield, would be tricky opposition if for no other reason than the fact

this was a local derby.

Not a bit of it, although the scoreline doesn't suggest it, this was as one-sided

as a fox-hunt and Cov went straight for the kill.

Barely four minutes had gone and they had already won three penalties, all

within kicking range for the metronomic O'Connor who finished the day with

four successes from five attempts, all of which they stuck in the corner.

That was a statement of intent and Cov's sole interest in denominations of five and seven paid dividends when Waller wriggled then bashed his way to the line to start what was going to be an excellent afternoon for the 19-year-old.

The Northampton prop was prominent in the loose and powerful in the scrum,

where he gave his opposite number Ignas Darkintis a torrid afternoon. This lad

is one for the present and the future.

Although Bees rallied momentarily with two Dan Hawkes penalties, O'Connor's

murderous line made it 14-6 after 25 minutes and at that point there was only

ever going to be one winner.

And it certainly wasn't Bees' ex-Cov full back Jon Lowden as he tried to stop

Dechartres from grounding the ball just before half-time. O'Connor converted

and added a penalty on the last play of the period.

Then came Stevens' solo effort, which happily brought the bonus but also

appeared to convince the Cov players they could spend the rest of the match

engaging in personal battles.

And so Bees had the last, admittedly inaudible word, when Luke Veebel made

a mess of Ollie Winter's kick in-field and allowed Rob Gregg to go under the

sticks. No matter the points were safe and the point had been made.

COVENTRY: Russell (Richards 68); O'Connor, McDonald, Stevens, Veebel; Read,

Barker (Murray 75); Waller (Beales 68), Ager (Price 57), Parkins, Mather,

Dechartres, Daynes, Nash, Tibbatts (Herrington 61)

BEES: Lowden (Sadler 48); Winter, White (Evans 37), Ford, Pons; Hawkes,

Stajka; Tau (Long 40), Sammons, Darkintis, Quarrie, Todd (Padian 78), Connolly,

Preece (Gregg 34), Hopley