Author: David Haigh

BARNES 34 CANTERBURY 32

by David Haigh

Barnes has been a land of lost opportunity for Canterbury in recent seasons and, once again, they missed out. Leading at half time and deep into the second half, they were beaten by a converted try five minutes from the end. Full marks to the home side for grasping that late reprieve, but Canterbury’s loss of concentration was complicit in their own downfall. A botched restart and a penalty gave Barnes the territory needed for the catch and drive try which brought the scores level. Their fly half, who had not had a great day with the boot, this time found the target to snatch the win. The city side started well, with hooker Lucas Eule finishing a driving maul and Lewis Hollidge converting. The first half then became a cagey affair with Barnes, although prone to conceding penalties, hitting back with tries from their bustling centre and a second from the fly half’s neat break and off load which was converted. By the break, however, the city side had restored their lead, Euele getting a second try, via an effective catch and drive and Hollidge’s conversion, plus a 38th minute penalty goal making it 17-12. They extended that early in the second half after Barnes collected a yellow card and were punished by a piercing run from Kurt Heatherley and clever sidesteps by Presley Farrance for a try under the posts, converted by Hollidge. Barnes responded with an unconverted touchdown, however, and building a decisive lead proved difficult. Canterbury did produce a fourth try from Max McCormack but that was countered by two from the home side, all the scores down to heavy duty forward effort. A Hollidge penalty goal going into the final ten minutes left the city side defending a slender five point advantage but that, frustratingly, proved beyond them and they had to settle for two bonus points to hold on to sixth place in National 2 East.

Canterbury: K.Heatherley, M.Campbell, H.Sloan, W.Waddington, G.Jones, L.Hollidge, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, L.Eule, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, G.Trapp, R.Thomas, M.McCormack. Replacements: C.Macmillan, S.Rogers, G.Roberts, R.Burden, A.Ashley-Jones

CANTERBURY 59 HAVANT 34

by David Haigh

This was Octoberfest with a difference as Canterbury celebrated their first home win of the season with a blast of nine tries. Wing Garry Jones got a hat trick and young fly half Owain Collins ended with a personal haul of nineteen points in a Man of the Match performance. Havant made their own festive contribution with six touchdowns but the city side, despite conceding the first score, never looked in danger of defeat. A back division, benefiting from the return of some experienced players, accounted for seven of the Canterbury tries while Collins’ accuracy from the tee was in stark contrast to the visitors unproductive goal kicking. Havant’s most effective weapon, a well marshaled rolling mauL, brought them an early lead through Aden Brassington’s try, but that was the first and last time they were in front. Crisp and inventive work by the backs saw Jones coast over the line twice inside the first fifteen minutes and, with the pack winning the battle of the breakdown, Canterbury looked comfortable. A third try came when right wing Olly Ashley-Jones cashed in on the visitors failure to clear a kick. Collins was on song with all the conversions to push them sixteen points ahead by the end of the first quarter. The downside to the city side’s game was conceding penalties and gifting Havant the territory to exploit their mauling skills. They took full advantage with unconverted tries from front row men Sam Shepherd and Vince Brandon. However, two tries in the minutes either side of half time put Canterbury back on firm ground. Riley Burden burrowed over in the 39th minute to claim the bonus point score; from the second half kick off the ball was palmed to flanker Riley Thomas who stormed away before sending George Trapp under the posts. Topped up by the conversions the city side led 35-15, leaving Havant with a catch up job that was beyond them. They did pull back seven points through a well constructed Will Perry try and Reuben Knight conversion, but another powerful run from Thomas set up Ashley-Jones for his second touchdown and a Collins break led to Harry Sloan’s straight run in. Great footwork by Collins brought him the final city score and his seventh conversion. Late replies from Havant came from Wesley Dugan and Ben Chambers, with one converted, but Canterbury were out sight by then.

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

OUNDLE 36 CANTERBURY 22

by Chris Fullbrook

Canterbury knew that this game was going to be tough against National 2 East’s undefeated leaders but Head Coach Matt Corker had prepared the team well and felt that his squad could get a result. When Oundle went ahead early on, with one of three of their customary catch and drive tries by ex-Canterbury player Shay Kerry, things looked ominous. However Canterbury took hold of the game and, after prolonged encampment in the Oundle 22, Owain Collins executed a clever chip and chase only to be brought down inches from the line. New boy Riley Burden was at the base of the resulting ruck to collect and drive over and, with a Collins conversion, the visitors were 7-5 up after 15 minutes. A further Collins penalty pit Corker’s 10-5 up only to be cancelled out by another Oundle catch and drive score just before half time With both Oundle’s tries going unconverted the sides went into the shed at half time level at 10 apiece.. The city side had enjoyed the better of the spoils and probably should have been further ahead but the signs looked promising for the second half.

Unfortunately, this was not to be as Oundle produced a purple patch just after half time with three tries, two scored and converted by centre Calnan, and another catch and drive from hooker Snelling while Canterbury’s Will Waddington was sitting in the sin bin for 10 minutes after an earlier infringement. At 31-10 the game now looked lost but fresh blood from the bench, with Garry Jones making his return and Stan Bull on debut, paid dividends. From a line-out in the Oundle 22 area a well-rehearsed move gave Riley Burden a brace for the afternoon, That try was closely followed by a break from Jones with a chip ahead collected by Olly Ashley-Jones and Collins conversion brought the score to 31-22.The possibility of a Canterbury comeback, however, was cancelled out in the last play of the game when Oundle’s Sleightholme chipped ahead to dot down wide.

Canterbury can take many positives from this game with nearly half of the team being pathway players, not something that their opposition readily promotes and, with two games at the Marine Travel Ground to come, Matt Corker can look forward to getting his young team back to winning ways.

Canterbury: G.Roberts, M.Campbell, R.Thomas, W.Waddington, O.Ashley-Jones, O.Collins, P.Farrance, C.Macmillan, S.Rogers, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, R.Burden, G.Trapp, M.McCormack. Replacements: J.Dengate, D.Huntley, G.Jones, T.Wiliam, S.Bull,

CANTERBURY 31 ESHER 34

by David Haigh

An Esher try in the last seconds of this National 2 East clash condemned Canterbury to their second home defeat of a fledgling season. It was a frustrating outcome for the city side who had twice come from behind but gave the visitors too much leeway in a see-saw second half. Leading by two points in the 79th minute, they kicked away possession and Esher were able to create just enough space for wing Charkes Cadogan to crash over for his second touchdown. The game did not start promisingly for Canterbury as they conceded a first minute try, scored by Tony Pedlar, and then a penalty try for a collapsed maul. In addition, they lost hooker Sam Rogers to a yellow card and fly half Lewis Hollidge, who missed an easy penalty shot, to injury. Despite sharp probing by scrum half Presley Farrance it was not until the start of the second quarter that they found some points. A charge down bv Jesse Dr Vries and a penalty led to a catch and drive try for Max McCormack, converted by Owain Collins. But Esher’s capable defence allowed them little else and in the final minute of the half the visitors pushed their lead to 19-7 through a driving maul score for Josh Thorne, converted by Matt Dalrymple. However, it was Canterbury who made a flying start to a second half that produced seven tries, two yellow cards and that nail biting finish. The roller coaster began in the 42nd minute with Sam Rogers completing Canterbury’s driving maul and Collins converting but then a flawed pattern emerged. Whereas they had been efficiently contained by Esher in the first half the city side were never sufficiently tight to take real command. Esher made a quick reply, through Cadogan, but lost Angus Wilbourn to the sin bin and it proved costly. Canterbury exploited the blindside for an Ollie Ashley-Jones try, converted by Collins, and three minutes later took the lead for the first time through the catch and drive route. Riley Thomas scored, Collins converted, but again the initiative was surrendered. Pedlar’s try put Esher three points ahead but, despite Jamie Stephens’ yellow card, a try from Max Campbell with eight minutes remaining put the city men in sight of victory. Then came that fatal Cadogan strike and Canterbury had to be content with two league points after falling, ironically, to the same score line as in their first defeat two wees ago.

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