Month: February 2024

By the smallest of margins ..

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

Canterbury 35 – 36 Weavering 1st XV

The Zingari lost out to a strong top of the table well drilled Weavering side by the narrowest possible margin after a hard-fought contest that went down to the wire. After a shaky start Canterbury conceding three try’s and two conversions within the first fifteen minutes until many players drafted into unfamiliar positions began to settle. Desperate to avoid their experience at Edenbridge under similar circumstances a few weeks earlier battled hard, and in the last quarter of the half managed to get the ball wide for the backs to show what they could do with two converted tries’ reducing the deficit. However, it was Weavering who had the last word of the half using their well drilled pack driving deep into Canterbury territory forcing an unconverted try to give them a 24-14 point halftime lead.

The second half saw Weavering make an early strike with an unconverted try to extend their lead. The city forwards redoubled their efforts in the light of this early setback, and Weavering never looked as dominant as they had previously. Both sides defences dominated and it wasn’t until halfway through the second half both sides exchanged converted tries. As the game went into the last quarter the Zingari step up a gear, even their scrum held up, and it wasn’t long before they were putting pressure on the Weavering in all departments. This gave the backs the opportunity to run in another converted try, and a few minutes later a combination of forwards and backs broke through to go under the posts, and with the conversion were within a point. With seven minutes on the clock, it was all to play for, Canterbury pressured the line time and again, but Weavering’s defence held out to give them the win with the narrowest margin in a game that was a credit to both sides.

WE NEED TO BE READY

Posted on | by David Haigh

DORKING v CANTERBURY

Sometimes it’s just about getting the job done. Last time out against Worthing, taking an early lead through a penalty was a solid start but we followed it up by conceding two scores. We still have gains to make in defence. Our reviews still leave us with the feeling that we can go up a level in this area, but the new laws have brought a shift in the game at our level. The same weekend we played Worthing, 11 of the league’s 14 teams scored 24 points or more, 9 over 30. This trend is definitely higher than we saw last season but our focus is on how fast we can move when defending. The quicker we set, the sooner we can get off the line to pressure the opposition. This is something that we will continue to work on as we aim to set high standards for ourselves.

The real story of the day though was the manner in which the players regained control of the game, even if we left it a little later than my blood pressure prefers. The belief and execution in the closing minutes to increase the pressure to an inevitable crescendo, marked the day with the result that we wanted. Good teams have the ability to get the job done and sometimes that means winning ugly. This is something that we haven’t achieved recently and coming out on the right side of a close encounter is still a strong positive from my perspective.

If we learnt anything when we played against Dorking last season, we know when we turn up at their ground, we need to be ready. Last year we were not and we conceded over 50 points, including five tries within thirty minutes. Despite their result last weekend, Dorking sit third for good reason and for us to come away with a win we know we will have to be at our best.

The Pilgrims march on and came out on the right side of their own close encounter last Saturday at Dover. The lead changed hands throughout the game and the Pilgrims finished on top to walk away with a 31-43 win. This week see’s them travel to third place Dartfordians for what will be an important result for both teams.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

Derby Double For Pilgrims

Posted on | by David Haigh

DOVER 31 CANTERBURY PILGRIMS 43

by John Mitchell

Another great local derby, perhaps the best game of the season so far and a win that was not assured until the last few minutes after the lead had changed hands five times. Pilgrims started well, with a try from Tom Halliday after only two minutes, but for the rest of the first half it was a huge battle. Dover, with former Canterbury first team captain Martyn Beaumont master minding their response, hit back with two converted tries as Pilgrims gave up possession too easily. Back came Pilgrims and Jack Weaver went close but from a lineout five metres out it was flanker Adrian Geddes who drove through a huge hole for an unconverted try. Pilgrims regained a narrow lead when a great move found prop Adam Malik dodging tackles and delaying his pass until Halliday latched on to it for his second try. Tom Mackenzie then got a yellow card for a high tackle, Dover exerted more pressure and were back in front by four points at half time with an unconverted touchdown. They extended that lead with their fourth try early in the second half and at this point one could see the Pilgrims about to lose their 100% record. They faced, by far, the toughest challenge of the whole season. However, they began to exert pressure on the Dover defence, the penalty count racked up against the home side and Cameron Murray crashed through to earn the bonus point fourth try. Will Hilton found his scoring touch at last, to convert. Could this be the start of a comeback against a Dover side who were playing with great passion and commitment? A yellow card for the hosts gave Canterbury a one man advantage and Presley Farrance, player of the match, with a good run and a lovely disguised pass made a try for Max Campbell, converted by Hilton. The Pilgrims were once more back in the lead. It was Farrance again who set up the next score for Sonny Trew-Neville, converted by Hilton, to put his side in a winning position. But it wasn’t over. With Weaver and Will McColl both in the sin bin Dover struck with a great 70 yard converted try to close the gap to five points. It was down to the wire as Pilgrims ignored an easy penalty shot and three points but in the closing minutes Farrance combined with Campbell before Weaver powered through and Josh Richardson added the goal points to round off a magnificent match and double over Dover this season.