Month: September 2026

DORKING 15 CANTERBURY 38

by David Haigh

Canterbury’s first victory of the new National 2 East season was as emphatic and impressive as the scoreline suggests. In the process of collecting five league points, they scored six tries and shut down Dorking so effectively they had to wait until the closing minutes before they made any breaches in the city side’s defences. On the evidence of the opening fifteen minutes, however, there was little to suggest that Canterbury would come to dominate. They conceded territory, fell off tackles in midfield and had to work overtime to protect their line. But that commitment and relentless work rate would come to serve them brilliantly throughout the game. They restricted the home side to a single penalty goal from Jack Thorn and, having passed that early test, took control in the second quarter. By half time Canterbury were 26-3 ahead and had a try bonus point in the bag. They were down to 14 players, with Owain Collins in the sin bin, when the first try came. A fine run by wing Max Campbell won territory , the forwards camped on Dorking’s line and centre Harry Sloan put the finishing touch to the pack’s work. In the next eighteen minutes Dorking were shown how to convert opportunities into points. Hooker Lucas Eule, from a driving maul; Sloan again after wing Ollie Ashley-Jones’ long break, and then a second touchdown for Eule, peeling off a maul. Three conversions by Lewis Hollidge added to the barrage. In the second half Dorking had the advantage of the slope but Canterbury have come unstuck at this venue too often to become complacent. Again, there were periods where they needed strong defence, but they were not for breaking and put the game to bed in the 55th minute. Defence was turned into attack and prop Ollie Frostick claimed a close quarter fifth try. Dorking eventually grabbed a couple of consolation scores, from Thorn and Theo Williamson, in the dying minutes but those were split by a Tom Williams try for the city side after Collins’ probing kick and chase. Collins converted to crown a game where a crop of Canterbury’s young players began to look at home in first team rugby.

Canterbury: O.Collins, O,.Ashley-Jones, F.Morgan, H.Sloan, M.Campbell, L.Hollidge, P.Farrance, C.Macmillan, S.Rogers, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, G.Trapp, R.Thomas, M.McCormack. Replacements: D.Huntley, L.Eule, T.Williams, W.Waddington, J.Dengate

MATCH PREVIEW

Old Albanians scored their final try twelve minutes into the second half to make the score 10–31. At that point, games can go one of two ways. If you had walked in and watched the last five minutes, you would have had a hard time believing that this was ever the score.

From that point, the team wrestled back control, going on to score three unanswered tries in the final quarter and finishing the game just three points short.

Two league points against a team that nearly won the league last season could be considered a good performance, but for me it goes down as a missed opportunity. We showed our ability to score tries in quick succession, but amongst some strong defensive sets, we also conceded too many tries, far too easily. There is lots to be proud of, but also lots for us to work on.

This week is one that, as part of our end-of-season review, we want to give extra special attention to. Firstly, it is an away game, an area where we are striving to improve our performances. Secondly, it is against a team we expect to be in and around the top four.

We are not reading too much into Dorking’s result last week away at Havant. We have heard through the grapevine that they had a number of starting players missing, and we fully expect them to be back to full strength tomorrow. We know what it takes to win at Dorking and we will have to be at our physical best to come away with a result.

The Pilgrims start their preparation for their delayed start to the season with a warm-up game against Westcombe Park 2nd XV at the Marine Travel Ground. We are putting out an extended squad, and the players know that to be in contention for the squad against Tonbridge on 26 September they need to show their best tomorrow.

MATT CORKER, HEAD COACH

CANTERBURY 31 OLD ALBANIAN 34

by David Haigh

A game that seemed to be slipping away from Canterbury was turned round in dramatic fashion but still left them agonisingly short of an opening day league victory. Three city tries in the final quarter of a contest which had been largely dominated by Albanians, almost wiped out a 20 point deficit. That determined late effort earned Canterbury two league points and for a squad missing a core of experienced players because of injury that was some consolation. With a demanding National 2 East month ahead of them it was a test for a side containing several new faces and their resilience will have pleased Head Coach Matt Corker. But for the first hour they were second best to an Albanian team that controlled possession, were more assured in their handling and good at the break down.. They were also quick to exploit gaps around he rucks and, ominously, that took them into an early lead as centre Alex Noot cantered over and and Elliot McPhun converted. A penalty led to an equalising score for Canterbury as wing Garry Jones joined a driving maul and got the touchdown, converted by Lewis Hollidge,but they carried limited attacking threat after that. However, if the city side lacked Albanian’s accuracy, they were strong in defence and that kept the first half scoreline manageable.. Albanians found two more tries before half time, Harry Charter finishing a series of pick and goes and McPhun darting off a five metre scrum and converting. A Hollidge penalty goal restricted the gap to nine points at the break but it was the opening minutes of the second half that did the real damage Tries from Tiane Elone and Cameron Grey, plus a McPhun conversion, were down to Canterbury errors which handed Albanians prime field positions. But with the game now looking done and dusted, the city side sensed tiredness in the opposition ranks and they struck. Tom Williams and Harry Sloan set up a second try for Jones, but a naive mistake let McPhun claw back three important points from a penalty goal. Now, though. the home pack went to work effectively against the rattled visitors and won two mauling tries for new boy Lucas Eule, all converted by Hollidge. Suddenly, an unlikely win looked possible but the final try came only four minutes from the close and that window proved too small.

Canterbury: O.Collins, M.Campbell, F.Morgan, H.Sloan, G.Jones, L.Hollidge, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, S.Rogers, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, G.Trapp, R.Thomas, M.McCormack. Replacements: T.Williams, L.Eule, J.Dengate, O.Ashley-Jones, C.Macmillan