Coventry Bears suffered their first defeat of the season in Manchester on Saturday, with the Bears' coach being sensationally sent off for a high tackle after only fifteen minutes.

The Bears had easily been the best side up to that point. They had taken the lead when Ben Shepherd forced his way over in the eighth minute, Danny Malin converted.

Then came the sending off and from then on it was all over as a contest.

The Bears did show good spirit and going into half time they were still in with a shout as Manchester only led 18 – 6.

Tries early in the second half stretched Manchester’s lead and at 36 – 6 Coventry again scored through Richard Davies with a conversion by Alex Van Der Valt.

The squad kept their heads up but Manchester took full advantage of their numerical superiority to win the game by 48 – 12.

The defeat means Coventry have slipped to fourth place in the National Composite table, and are second in the Western Conference.

Coventry: