Author: David Haigh

CANTERBURY 34 ESHER 33

by David Haigh

Ultimately, it was Canterbury’s ability to hang in at the end that settled a game which produced eleven tries, two hat tricks and enough twists and turns to keep a crowd, basking in Spring sunshine, in a state of nervous tension. Esher, full of purpose in their battle to avoid a relegation play-off match, held a narrow lead going into the final ten minutes. But the city side, who put a careless first half behind them, kept their cool, won a penalty and from it organised a massive driving maul for Eoin O’Donogue’s winning try. The victory lifts them to fifth place in National 2 East and, with a game in hand on the clubs above them, they will be eyeing a top four finish to the season. They were given early notice that Esher meant business as their prolific wing, James Botterill, added two tries to his growing tally in the opening 20 minutes. Forward grunt set up the first, crisp handing made the second. Canterbury were full of loose passes and unforced errors, but a yellow card for Esher’s Josh Thorne gave them an opportunity. Tyler Oliver delivered from a smart lineout drill and Frank Reynolds converted but there was more trouble in store. A Presley Farrance kick was charged down and Ben Robbins cashed in with the try that took the visitors to a half time lead of eight points. What a different beast the second half was for Canterbury. In the first seven minutes, Number Eight Oliver completed his hat trick, first a storming run of 40 metres after finding a midfield gap, then on the end of a catch drive, to give his side the lead for the first time. It did not last, however, as Owen Waters, who was off target with all his conversion attempts, slotted a simple penalty goal and Esher next put crushing pressure on the city defence to earn themselves another seven points with a penalty try. They quickly blew that advantage through a poor decision to kick from their in-goal area; Reynolds ran it back and the support opened the way for a Ryley Thomas try which Reynolds converted. There was still more drama to come; the restart was spilled and Botterill punished the error with his third try. Next, a charge down by Jesse Vries allowed Canterbury to mount an attack before Frank Morgan released Kurt Heatherley for the team’s fifth touchdown. It was heart stopping stuff and Esher’s slender one point lead became four when Waters struck again with a drop goal but, with six minutes remaining, the city side did not panic. The O’Donoghue score was clinically executed and in the closing stages the ball was successfully stowed away to thwart any Esher response.

Canterbury: K.Heatherley, M.Campbell, H.Sloan, W.Waddington, L.Talbot, F.Reynolds, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, E.O.Donoghue, O.Frostick, C.McGovern, J.Stephens, J.Walker, R.Thomas, T.Oliver. Replacements: T.Williams, J.De Vries, F.Morgan, J.Dengate, C.Macmillan

GUERNSEY 29 CANTERBURY 33

by Chris Fullbrook

Canterbury produced a determined and resilient performance to overcome a physical Guernsey side in an entertaining and hard‑fought encounter, showing composure at key moments to claim a bonus point victory. The match began with an early setback for the city side when Guernsey crossed for a converted try after sustained pressure. A loose Canterbury pass was intercepted and, although Max Campbell won the subsequent foot race, he was tackled in goal. Guernsey opted repeatedly to scrummage from penalties close to the line and Matt Creber eventually powered over and full back Tom Teasdale converted. Canterbury responded impressively. Their first try came after a flowing passage of play, sparked by Harry Sloan breaking the line and sending Ryley Thomas through a gap. Quick hands followed as the ball moved via scrum‑half Presley Farrance and Luke Talbot, before Thomas, who had continued to support, finished the move. Frank Reynolds’ conversion brought Canterbury level. Momentum swung further in the visitors favour shortly afterwards. A penalty kicked to the corner and the resulting catch‑and‑drive proved too strong for the Guernsey defence, with Jimmy Walker applying the finishing touch and Reynolds again converting.

The game then tightened, with Canterbury temporarily reduced to 14 men when Thomas was shown a yellow card midway through the first half. Guernsey made that numerical advantage count, capitalising on another loose pass which was intercepted before centre Jon Dawe raced in from 20 metres out. The try went unconverted and Canterbury reached the break leading 14-12 but now with gusting wind at their backs.

They began the second half brightly, a speculative kick from fly‑half Reynolds causing problems for the Guernsey fullback. His fumble allowed Reynolds to regather before feeding captain Jamie Stephens who set Max Campbell free. The wing showed outstanding pace to finish in the corner for the city side’s third try. Minutes later, Guernsey struck back; a midfield penalty was kicked to the corner and, from the ensuing line‑out, replacement hooker Tom Ceillam was at the back of the maul to bring this tight match to 17-19. The islanders continued to press and were awarded a penalty try following a scrum five metres out and Canterbury hooker Eoin O’Donoghue was sin‑binned. Despite being down a man, the side showed real character. to take back the lead. Defending inside their own 22, Guernsey attempted a clearance from the base of a scrum that was charged down by Stephens. He gathered, fed Will Waddington and the centre calmly popped a pass to Walker, who powered over for his second try of the afternoon, converted by Reynolds. Guernsey mounted a final push in the closing quarter and struck again through Dawe, who scored his second after a break from influential fullback Anthony Armstrong. The missed conversion kept the game finely poised at 29-26. With the match in the balance, Canterbury showed maturity in the final minutes and deep inside Guernsey territory, Reynolds kicked a penalty to the corner. The resulting ten‑man driving maul—backs and forwards combined—proved decisive, with O’Donoghue redeeming his earlier sin‑binning by grounding the ball for the fifth and decisive converted try

Canterbury: K.Heatherley, M.Campbell, H.Sloan, W.Waddington, L.Talbot, F.Reynolds, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, E.O’Donoghue, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, J.Walker, R.Thomas, T.Oliver,. Replacements: J.Dengate, T.Williams, C.Macmillan, C.McGovern, A.English.

LONDON WELSH 22 CANTERBURY 21

by David Haigh

A late Welsh try settled a close but fitful game in which Canterbury never recaptured the high standards they achieved in their previous outing. It is said that the devil is in the detail and that was manifested by the city club’s lack of accuracy at key moments. Forward passes, small handling errors and failure to turn attacking positions into points let them down and, arguably, denied them a couple of important scores. Having taken the lead nine minutes before the end they had the opportunity to close out the game, but could not resist Welsh’s strong finish. Canterbury made the first breach when Jimmy Walker cleaned up untidy lineout possession to burrow over for a try converted by Frank Reynolds. By half time, however, it was Welsh, exploiting he slope cannily to set up position, who were eight points to the good. A driving maul brought a try for flanker Tom Williams and a flat pass, fired by fly half Matt Hodgson, sent wing Iwan Humphreys across for the second. Obstinate Canterbury defence resisted more heavy pressure before the break so Hodgson, who converted his side’s first score, settled for a penalty goal. Memories of the city side’s stunning second half effort two weeks ago were quickly revived when a fine driving maul was capped by a Ryley Thomas try and Reynolds’ conversion a minute after the break. But dawns can often prove false and it was not until deep into the final quarter that the city side found a way to edge ahead. Accuracy was missing, line breaks by Tyler Oliver and Frank Morgan went unrewarded and it wasn’t until until the 71st minute that another score came. Welsh were pinned in a corner, made a mess of their own lineout throw and Charlie McGovern pounced for the try. Reynolds was on target again, but the home side now grabbed the initiative. Two minutes from the end a penalty handed them a last catch and drive opportunity and Harry Breeze crashed over. Victory was down to a Hodgson conversion and he made no mistake.

Canterbury: K.Heatherley, F.Morgan, H.Sloan, W.Waddington, L.Talbot, F.Reynolds, P.Farrance, L.Young. J.Dengate, O.Frostick, C.McGovern, J.Stephens, J.Walker, M.Campbell, J.De Vries, D.Huntley, C.Oliver

CANTERBURY 51 OUNDLE 33

by David Haigh

A Canterbury side that looked almost down and out staged a magnificent second half revival to fight their way to this comprehensive victory. Trailing 28-7 at the break, the city side’s total domination of the next 40 minutes stunned title chasing Oundle with six tries and a lesson in discipline and game management. The visitors, who had overwhelmed National 2 East leaders Old Albanians the previous week, had every right to feel they had done another good job with four first half tries and a bonus point secured. A defensive lapse handed them an early lead through wing Rian Hamilton’s try and a Ben Young conversion. That attracted a swift reply when Frank Reynolds neat grubber kick saw Aiden Moss win the race for the touch down and Reynolds add the goal points, but Oundle took charge of the rest of the half. Their most efficient weapon, the driving maul, produced tries for Tevita Vaenuku and Anthony Maka and, in the closing minute, Hamilton registered his second, Canterbury being duly punished for overthrowing a lineout. The accurate Young topped up all three scores to put even greater distance between the sides. However, signs that Oundle’a confidence might have been misplaced were quickly flagged after the interval as Canterbury came out with a new mind set and made a statement with two tries in the first ten minutes. A quick lineout drill set up Tyler Oliver’s score, converted by Reynolds, and a yellow card for the visitors proved costly as the city side established themselves in attacking territory and scrum half Presley Farrance found the gap. Canterbury, curing many of the set piece problem that had plagued them in first half, kept up the pressure with another close quarter finish by Jamie Stephens, converted by Reynolds. Once again Oundle, shut down by an aggressive home defence, lost their discipline as Maka went to the sin bin for a high tackle and they paid the price as Canterbury went in front for the first time. Frank Morgan, fresh from the replacements bench, got the try. as the attack was spread wide. The badly shaken visitors hit back briefly through Matt Collins as they got a rare chance of a catch drive, but they had no more answers to a vibrant city side as Morgan bagged his second and Reynolds drove home the victory message with a penalty goal and a drop goal. In the final minute he added his fifth conversion when Tyler Oliver strolled over for Canterbury’s final try to crown a remarkable afternoon.

Canterbury: K. Heatherley, A.Moss, D.Tout, W.Waddington, L.Talbot, F.Reynolds, T.Williams, L.Young, J.Dengate, O.Frostick, C.McGovern, J.Stephens, J.Walker, R.Thomas, T.Oliver. Replacements; C.Oliver, P.Farrance, F.Morgan, J.De Vries, E.O’Donoghue