London Welsh 19 Coventry 5 Despite the appalling weather conditions - strong winds, heavy rain, and a saturated pitch - London Welsh and Coventry served up a rousing contest.

The ball was wet and slippery, leading to many early mistakes and turning the lineouts into lotteries, and the tackling from both sides was heroic, as very often the forwards chose to drive into the heart of the opposition where they were downed by their waiting opponents.

Coventry did try to feed their backs early on, but abandoned this following a number of turnovers and knock-ons. London Welsh, however, were slightly more successful in this respect and worked themselves close to the Coventry line for scrum half Tom Lewsey to nip over for the opening score in the eighth minute. John Ufton's conversion gave the Welsh a 7-0 lead.

This lead was extended in the 15th minute, when hooker Chris Ritchie was driven through a mini-lake and over the line by the whole of the London Welsh pack, for another well-earned try. Ufton again converted to put the home side 14-0 to the good.

The first half was fiercely contested by both sets of forwards, but a gem of a try in injury time, by centre Adam Bidwell, sealed it for the Welsh. Good handling and ball-retention led to Bidwell being given space 35 metres out. Considering the underfoot conditions, his sprint to the corner was electric and he managed to dive over in the corner with two desperate defenders hanging on.

London Welsh turned round 19-0 up, but now Coventry had the benefit of the strong wind. Would 19 points be enough of a lead, mused the fans, remembering the Welsh's comeback at Coundon Road in the previous encounter.

Coventry began the half in storming fashion, with Kurt Johnson scoring after following an astute kick ahead from full back Martyn Davies in the 55th minute. The visitors applied all the pressure in the first 25 minutes of the period, but resolute London Welsh defence kept them at bay, possibly leading to some frustration amongst the visiting pack.

The afternoon turned sour in the 72nd minute when Coventry replacement John Griffiths was sent off for punching. He was quickly followed by London Welsh flanker Rossigneux in the 75th minute and by Dave Ramsey of the Welsh and Coventry's Mike Curtis for fighting at the start of injury time.

These red cards took the gloss off what had been a clean but competitive game. London Welsh were able to re-assert themselves for the closing 20 minutes and emerged convincing winners on the day. They will be in good heart for their visit to Worcester next week and will be hoping for firmer conditions on their return to Old Deer Park on February 2nd when their visitors will be Otley.