Ealing Trailfinders 55 Coventry 38 - Ealing crowned but Cov lay claim to heir apparent...and the winner of this year's Championship Food Watch is...

You live, you learn

You love, you learn

You cry, you learn

You lose, you learn

You bleed, you learn

You scream, you learn

I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone

I certainly do, ooh

I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time

Feel free

Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind)

Hold it up (to the rays)

You wait and see when the smoke clears

You Learn - Alanis Morissette

This hasn't been the most straightforward of seasons to be a Coventry Rugby supporter - top of the league in December, mid-table by May.

When Alanis Morissette penned the lyrics to 'You Learn' she was suffering a form of PTSD after having been mugged at gunpoint in Los Angeles.

Without diminishing her experiences in comparison to those of many Cov supporters over the past nine months, there have been times watching Cov both at home and away where they've experienced similarly intense emotions—living, loving, losing, metaphorically bleeding, and screaming in frustration—as their team's Championship performances have swung from excellent (at home against Bedford and Nottingham) to highly inconsistent (perm any from 8 or 9).

Many, though certainly not all, of these issues can be attributed to the nearly unparalleled number of injuries and absences that have plagued Cov this season. As a result, no team in the Championship, aside from Ealing with their significantly larger squad, would have performed much better, would they?

Unless your Ampthill or Scottish, of course.

Ironically, as the season draws to a close and the likes of Kvesic, Johnson, Anstey, Hitchcock and Green all now have games under their belts, so Cov's form begins to improve and on Saturday, even in winning, I'm not sure I've seen a better 80-minute performance from Cov all season.

Yes, we demolished Nottingham the previous weekend, but the difference in quality between them and Ealing makes any comparison simply impractical. In the 7 years we've been back in the Championship, and leaving Saracens aside for obvious reasons, this current Ealing squad for me is better than any other we've faced during our time here. It's not just the quality of players they have; it's also the depth they have to choose from. Indeed, it was the strength of their bench on Saturday that was our undoing really.

But here's the thing, despite some really disappointing performances this season (eg Pirates home and away, Ampthill away, Nottingham away and Hartpury away) we have seen signs that even with the unavailability of so many players, the core of the Coventry squad is very competitive.

And we saw that again on Saturday.

Missing Martin, Richman, Davies, Hinkley, Tiueti, Tyas, Nkwacha and Nairau, all of whom would have been pushing for a place in the match day squad at the very least and against a team that has two, possibly three, options in every position on the pitch, Cov made Ealing work really hard for the first 50 minutes of the game. And when Cov scored early on in the second half to take their score to within just two points, the game was still finely balanced.

What impressed me most about Cov at the weekend was that even though Ealing had a bonus point in the bag before half time, Cov never allowed Ealing to run away with it in that first 40 and in terms of time spent in each other's 22, it must have been honours even if not in Coventry's favour. Ealing were just that little bit more clinical.

As has been noted elsewhere, though, Ealing had too much firepower on the bench and on the 50-minute mark, Ben Ward unleashed the bomb squad. 4 tries in under 10 minutes put Ealing out of sight and at that point it could all have gone horribly wrong. With 15-20 minutes remaining, many of us feared the worst.

Suddenly, the game opened up and it looked for all the world as if in the final quarter Ealing would run amok. Some of their offloads and running angles were of the highest standard, with backs and forwards supporting each other to create spaces that Cov were struggling to cover.

However shell-shocked they might have been though, Cov managed to up their tempo and the final 10 minutes really belonged to Cov not because Ealing took their foot of the gas (they most certainly did not), but rather because Cov found another gear themselves.

Cov took the game to the home side and, roared on by a strong, and very vocal, contingent of travelling supporters, they crossed the line twice to ensure that by the end of the game, it was the visitors who were in the ascendency. Other sides might have crumbled under that 15-minute onslaught, that Cov didn't speaks volumes about their mental toughness.

Until Ealing changed their front row on 50 minutes, Cov's scrum held up exceptionally well and although we didn't disrupt their lineout as much as we have in some games this season, ours was rock solid with Tom Ball at the fore. The big difference between this game and many of the post-Christmas games was that our discipline was far better and as a result we weren't forced into conceding territory and possession as often as we have been of late (Nottingham excepted). Nor were we fazed by the sheer physicality of Ealing who often had two players in the tackle. In defence, we were far more robust and there were fewer missed tackles than we've become used to, although we were caught out of position a couple of times close in on the left early on.

David Opoku was forced off with an injury to a finger which disrupted things a little, although once again the admirable Will Lane came on and playing out of position, he did some sterling work both in attack and defence.

We perhaps didn't use the wind quite as effectively as Ealing did and all too often Logan Trotter found himself catching the high ball with one or more Ealing chasers timing their hits to perfection, whilst we gave Tobi Wilson too much time by comparison. However, as dangerous a runner as Wilson is, he got little change from the Cov defence - I shouldn't think there have been too many occasions this season when he's not been on the scoresheet with 55 points on the board, something that I particularly enjoyed.

Cov did themselves proud on Saturday and whilst it's another defeat to add to the 8 others we've suffered this season so far, unlike some of those other losses, there was no shame attached to this one whatsoever.

Ultimately, sport at any level, particularly professional sport, revolves around winners and losers, yet we frequently tend to celebrate losses and seek out positives, even when they are difficult to find. Saturday, though, really did highlight just how good Cov could be next season with a full squad to include 12-15 new additions who perform to their potential - something that I'm not convinced has been the case this year.

In horse racing, there is an option known as 'betting without the favourite' (if I recall the term correctly). While it's way too soon to make a definitive prediction, I would tentatively suggest that if you exclude Ealing and Worcester (likely in that order) from next season's betting, Coventry could potentially be the best of the rest especially in the light of what we observed on Saturday and the recruitment thus far.

For me, other than Ealing, Doncaster are probably the best side we've encountered this season - in the second half up at Castle Park they looked outstanding (Pirates beat us easily at The Mennaye but we were very poor that day and they were less than convincing in their narrow win at the BPA). However, even against Donny and Pirates, had we played with the discipline and accuracy that we showed against Ealing, I think we might have seen some very different results.

Whilst publicly I'm sure everyone connected with the club will be stressing that Cov will be going all out to win the league next season, realistically for most supporters a third placed finish and a tilt at winning promotion via the play offs is the more likely goal - or is that been defeatist already?

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As far as the facilities go, Trailfinders Sports Ground is one of the better grounds in the Championship. It might well be one of the least well attended (averaging just 1241 last season), but for those who enjoy their sport, it has a lot to offer. As well as two (yes, two) artificial pitches (with three electronic scoreboards around the main one), there's a smaller artificial football pitch and a cricket ground attached. There's also a mobile food outlet at the back (presumably part of the ground's own catering set up) and an external bar with toilets at both ends of the main pitch.

It's all very supporter friendly, the only problem being there just aren't many supporters to cater for.

Take Saturday, for example. It's the last home game of the season against one of the better sides in the league so, with the official Championship Cup presentation to follow, you'd think there'd be a goodly crowd. It would be a guaranteed sell out at Cov, that's for sure!

The crowd on Saturday?

Just 1067... over 200 less than the average gate last season!

And there must have been 100 or so Cov fans included in that total.

With so little income coming into the club through gate receipts and what is reported as a 'substantial' wage bill, it's not hard to work out just how much financial support is being given by Mike Gooley.

When we arrived, around 70 minutes before kick-off, there was little to suggest that the game carried any significance other than there was a bouncy castle for the little ones and a live DJ. There was no buzz, no sense of occasion at all. In fairness, when the players ran out you did get a feel that this was a bit special as there were several of those portable 'flamethrowers' to greet them, but that was about it.

The Ealing supporters were quiet for the most part, really only noticeable when Ealing scored or were threatening to score, whilst Cov fans could be heard all game, whatever the score - the loudest of any travelling supporters down at Ealing this season I gather, although that comes as no surprise.

I'm not sure whether I heard a note of irony on the announcer's voice when he asked one of the Ealing players in a post-match interview: 'What's it like to hear the famous 'Ealing' chant when you're out on the pitch?'

I didn't hear it once in the entire 80 minutes!

The celebrations that took place after the game were more lively, but again a goodly number of the crowd had exited the ground before the presentation, so it was nowhere near as jubilant as it might have been...and as it was taking place the Cov players had made their way down to their own supporters to say thanks for making it down to Ealing and for their support all season. Nice touch, that.

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With so much land around the pitch available, Ealing could easily accommodate 10000 plus for a Premiership game (by the end of the fourth year in the top tier) subject to the relevant planning approval. However, one concern I've heard mentioned was apparent even before entering the ground itself - the approach road is fairly narrow with vehicles belonging to local residents parked roadside.

We had to wait to allow one car to move on our arrival to ensure the coach had enough of a swing on exiting a roundabout and the driver had to be helped out of the ground on our departure through what is a very tight exit. The additional traffic that would come from promotion into the Premiership would be a potential nightmare, not only for the traffic stewards but also for the residents living on Vallis Way itself.

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The trip down to Ealing also saw the culmination of this season's 'Championship Food Watch'. For only the second time this season, Chef Josh was unavailable due to prior commitments in Wales but I was very fortunate to have my lad, Sam, with me on Saturday to stand in for the much-vaunted young culinary expert.

Sam is a seasoned campaigner and has sampled rugby fare at grounds the length and breadth of the country. I knew the CFW was in safe hands.

Sam opted for the standard rugby offering of burger and chips, although other than a sausage roll there was little else available:

Sam's verdict? Well, the chips were perfect and although it was a relatively small portion, they were filling and appropriate given he had a burger too. The burger itself had a good taste to it but was perhaps a little dry and being very much a traditionalist when it comes to burgers, the cheese should have been of the ubiquitous orange, 'plastic' variety. I blame his parents.

At £12, Sam thought it was fairly priced, although the lack of choice definitely counted against the overall score.

A score of 7.5 reflects this, although on their own the chips merited a higher mark.

Thanks, again, to Sam for stepping into Josh's shoes, no easy job at the best of times - as I mentioned last week, a tough ask given the growing reputation the young maestro is currently enjoying.

So, once again with apologies to Cornish Pirates (it was just a trip too far this year), here are the final standings:

1. Chinnor - 9

2. Caldy - 9

3. Cambridge - 8.5

4. Coventry - 8

5. Hartpury - 8

6. Leicester - 7.5 (added for comparison to Prem)

7. Ealing Trailfinders - 8

8. Nottingham - 6

9. Doncaster - 6

10. Ampthill - 5.5

11. London Scottish - 5

12. Bedford 4.5

Congratulations to both Chinnor and Caldy who share the spoils and commiserations to Bedford who will surely need to up their game considerably if they are to avoid another humiliation next season.

NOTE: I'm looking for businesses and/or individuals to sponsor the Food Watch next season. Given the attention this feature is currently attracting, future sponsors would reach a huge potential audience with brand names and logos displayed at the start and end of each post, advertising opportunities during all match day tweets as well as massive media exposure, obviously.

Please pm my agent with details of amounts and signing on bonuses...

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You live, you learn

You love, you learn

You cry, you learn

You lose, you learn

You bleed, you learn

You scream, you learn

Alanis Morissette ultimately acknowledged that no matter how challenging an experience might be, it's important to learn from it. For Coventry Rugby, and especially for many of the younger, less experienced players, this season has been quite a learning curve. At times, a steep one. Despite the difficulties and challenges, Saturday demonstrated just how much they have learned. Even when facing the strongest opponents, they showed they possess the ability, physicality, and mental resilience to meet the challenge.

On Saturday, the players made the supporters proud, they made the Club proud, but most importantly, they made themselves proud. The next time they encounter Ealing, they'll know they can, and will, make things very difficult for them.

Up the Cov!

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