Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club (CURUFC) put in a superb attacking display to secure a second consecutive win on Wednesday night, as they triumphed 33-21 against Coventry Rugby Football Club at Grange Road.

Up against opposition from the SSE National League 1 – English rugby’s third tier – the Light Blues’ scintillating play in the away side’s twenty-two, spearheaded by the excellent Fraser Gillies at fly-half, saw the home side dominate the opening 40 minutes of play to record what proved an unassailable lead. Indeed, with December’s Varsity match against Oxford at Twickenham on the horizon, this performance will provide CURUFC with a welcome confidence boost.

The home side began the match on the front foot, their early pressure forcing a scrum midway into Coventry’s half that formed a solid platform from which to attack. And that they did, with Rory Triniman’s break through the Midlanders’ line stopped just yards from the whitewash. Fastball allowed Gillies to fire the ball out to Charlie Amesbury, back playing fullback after a stint at inside-centre in the Light Blues’ last match against Crawshay’s Welsh XV, who beat his man with ease and handed Lare Erogbogbo with a chance he could not miss in the right corner. 5-0 up within two minutes, Gillies extended CURUFC’s lead to 7-0 with a sublime conversion from right on the touchline – his first in what would be a virtuoso display of goal kicking.

Throughout the opening period, the Light Blues confined the away side into their own half thanks to their strong defensive play and high line speed, the latter forcing the Midlanders’ into unenforced errors. And on the two occasions Coventry did break through, Amesbury was there to put in vital last-ditch tackles.

CURUFC also remained a threat, with two of their best chances coming from an unlikely source, as the deceptively quick Tim Bond broke away and offloaded into the hands of onrushing backs. And it was through this avenue of attack that the Light Blues grabbed their second try: on 18 minutes, the home side ran through the phrases following a Bond break and eventually fed skipper Daniel Dass on the right wing who, showing the elusiveness and footwork of a winger, beat two men to touch down in the corner. Gillies added the conversion again to take the score to 14-0.

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Moments later, after Gillies had missed his easiest kick of the night from a penalty, CURUFC crossed the whitewash again to take a 21-0 lead. A quick tap from Sebastian Tullie fed Richard Bartholomew, who charged towards the line and, despite the flanker being pulled down, the ball reached Triniman who, timing his pass to perfection, fed Lare Erogbogbo to score his second try, to which Gillies added the extras.

The Light Blues were dominating across all areas of the park: two huge hits from Lare Erogbogbo and superb ripping work in contact from Fionn Dillon Kelly nullified any Coventry threats and, on the 33rd minute mark, the home side found yet another score as a cheeky chip into the left corner was caught by Henry King who touched down for a try, converted by Gillies to see the scoreboard read 28-0.

As the clock entered red, however, Coventry grabbed a much-needed foothold in the game. A series of phases involving intense attacking forward play from the away side kept the CURUFC defence under pressure, and the Light Blue resistance was to eventually crumble after a superb offload in contact from Sam Hollingsworth and a great pick-up off his toes by Callum MacBrunie allowed Jay Heath to cross and score. And, to the surprise of the Grange Road crowd, the first half had still more drama: as Hollingsworth added the conversion to take the score at half-time to 28-7, CURUFC flanker Tom Stanley was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for an unknown transgression.

The Light Blues thus began the second half with 14 men, and Coventry seized on their numerical advantage. Their domination in successive scrums close to the CURUFC line forced the home side into conceding penalties and, eventually, referee Ryan Fraser was forced into awarding the Midlanders a penalty try to take the score to 28-14

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With their lead shrinking rapidly, CURUFC looked rattled, putting themselves under pressure with unenforced mistakes all over the park, and it took fantastic work at the breakdown from Dass and Lola Erogbogbo and a try saving tackle from King to keep Coventry at bay. But, at the midway stage of the second half, the away side edged closer to gaining equality as Hollingsworth crashed over the CURUFC whitewash to take the score to 28-21.

Skipper Dass had spoken before the game about his desire to see his team begin to develop a “winning mentality” and, heeding their captain’s words, the Light Blues began to re-establish themselves. Triniman and Amesbury both made threatening breaks, and with five minutes left in the match, Michael Phillips’ miss pass fed King in the left corner who registered his second try (this time, unconverted) to take the score to 33-21.

And with the clock in the red, there was still time for more drama: as tempers frayed, a quick scuffle saw the referee delve into his pocket yet again to hand out a yellow card to Coventry’s Steve Hipwell, and a red to CURUFC’s Stanley for his second sin-binnable offence of the game.

But this was to be a mere blemish on a fine CURUFC performance that showed great promise for the much-anticipated Varsity match: the Light Blues will hope that their current attacking edge will end Oxford’s six-year domination of the fixture.

Referee: Ryan Fraser