Author: David Haigh

Mindray Defibrillator

CLUB HITS DEFIBRILLATOR TARGET

Posted on | by David Haigh

A £30,000 fund raising initiative by the club will see all its teams and age groups provided with life saving defibrillator equipment. The fund raising target was passed in May and will pay for 24 defibrillators from London Hearts, the UK’s leading defibrillator charity. After hearing about a tragedy in the local community the club set about raising money including the auction of 15 Canterbury Bears dressed in club shirts. The defibrillators are a vital part of treatment of people suffering cardiac arrest. With the effective and speedy delivery of treatment the chances of survival can be raised to 70%, but this requires CPR and the use of a defibrillator. Survival chances decrease 10% every minute after a cardiac arrest, so the faster help can be given the better the outcome, meaning that having over 20 defibrillators at the club could make a real impact on people’s lives in the wider community. The successful fundraising also secured the money for enough batteries and extras to completely replenish their defibrillators in three years time.

In addition, and thanks to a generous donation from Dave Thompson, Managing Director of principal sponsor Marine Travel, 260 club members in the vulnerable category (aged 14-35) will be offered a free heart scan in November this year. The scan usually costs the individual £50 and is key to spotting the signs of heart disease.

Chairman Giles Hilton said: “I am proud of the efforts of our club in raising this incredible amount of money. Having this many defibrillators at the club and therefore in the community could make all the difference to someone, and that makes it all worth it.”

The club is no stranger to raising money, having contributed over £100,000 to good causes, from the Ukrainian appeal to Cancer Research, in the last year alone.

NEW LEAGUE STRUCTURES ANNOUNCED

Posted on | by David Haigh

The new league structure for National 2 clubs in the 2022/23 season has been released with Canterbury placed in the 14-team National 2 East. Newcomers to this level will be Dorking, North Walsham and Sevenoaks. Kent clubs Blackheath and Tonbridge Juddians, both relegated from Division One last season, are also in the mix. The full list of clubs is Barnes, Blackheath, Bury St Edmunds, Canterbury, Dorking, Guernsey Raiders, Henley, North Walsham, Old Albanian, Rochford Hundred, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge Juddians, Westcliff, Worthing Raiders.

Canterbury Pilgrims will compete in a new Counties 2 Kent competition made up of nine first teams together with the Pilgrims, Westcombe Park 2nd and Sevenoaks 2nd
Counties 2 Kent: Canterbury Pilgrims, Dover, Gillingham Anchorians, Hastings & Bexhill, Maidstone, Old Dunstonians, Old Williamsonians, Park House, Sevenoaks 2, Southwark Lancers, Vigo, Westcombe Park 2.

Welcoming the new structures Head Coach Matt Corker said: “I am excited by the new leagues that our 1st XV and Pilgrims will be entering and feel that it is an extremely positive move for our players. The Pilgrims entry into Counties 2 Kent is a big step forward in our ability as a club to help our players develop and prepare them for national league rugby. The new National 2 East is full of great teams and offers us reduced travel times and more rest weekends which is a great help to players rugby and life balance. It will add a real excitement to pre-season, and I can’t wait for the first game.

FRANK BOOTS KENT TO VICTORY

Posted on | by David Haigh

Canterbury fly half Frank Reynolds contributed nineteen points to Kent’s 44-43 win over Hampshire in the first round of the County Championship.

He was one of five of the club’s players to appear in the Division One game at Havant with debutants Max Halliday, Tom Williams and Will McColl joining Royce Cadman in the Kent squad.

Frank’s points all came from the boot with five conversions and three penalty goals, the last of which sealed victory three minutes from the end.

Kent were scheduled to meet Surrey in their second game on May 21st only to learn that Surrey have withdrawn from the competition. Depending on other results the county side could still appear in the Twickenham final on June 4th.

Canterbury 1st XV vs Henley Hawks

Match Report – Hawks Make It Blank Day

Posted on | by David Haigh

CANTERBURY 10pts HENLEY HAWKS 19pts

A pointless day for Canterbury after Hawks ran in a late try to seal victory in a game which often failed to rise above the ordinary. Henley deserved their success and might have won more convincingly had they taken all their opportunities but slack work at crucial moments and an obdurate defence denied them. Despite spending the first 20 minutes pinned on the back foot Canterbury eventually found a way out and went ahead through the only try of the first half. Hawks spilled the ball, giving Kyan Braithwaite and Tom Best the chance to combine and send Guy Hilton over. It left Frank Reynolds with a difficult conversion and he shanked his kick badly. It was a score that lifted the city side’s mood but a poor second half saw it wasted as life was made too easy for the visitors. Two minutes after the restart they fell behind as Braithwaite was caught in possession, Henley forced the penalty and Sam Lunnon was driven over from the lineout. Cail Coookland converted and was on target again when the visitors were gifted another bonus. A yellow card for Danny Herriott left the home side a man short and that handicap lead to points. Hawks went for the wide channels, Canterbury ran out of defenders and centre Will Panday strolled over. The score came in the 66th minute but memories of a late revival in Canterbury’s last home game quickly surfaced as they claimed a second try. An attacking lineout went wrong but Henley tapped the ball over their own line and Tyler Oliver swooped to touchdown. Reynolds’ kick went astray but there were to be no second miracles. Another Canterbury error, this time losing the ball in contact, was all Hawks needed and three minutes from the end Panday’s second try denied them the consolation of a losing bonus point.

Canterbury: K. Braithwaite, G.Hilton (repl J.Weaver), F.Morgan, T.Best, T.Williams (repl M.Halliday), F.Reynolds, B.Cooper, A.Cooper (repl W.McColl), T.King, D.Herriott (repl E.Lusher), R.Cadman, J.De Vries (repl A.Evans), J.Stephens, S.Rogers, T.Oliver

David Haigh

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v Henley Hawks

Images subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton
Barnes vs CRFC 1st XV

Match Report – All Square at Barnes

Posted on | by David Haigh

BARNES 20pts CANTERBURY 20pts

It may have ended all square but Canterbury had to find a shovel and dig themselves out of a hole before they claimed two mildly disappointing National 2 South league points. Trailing by eleven after a flat first half, to which Barnes brought energy and pace, they gradually felt their way back into the contest. The pack did the work with two close range scores which took them into a narrow lead and a glimpse of victory. A Barnes penalty goal ten minutes from the end of an error strewn affair made sure that did not happen. The city side had the opportunity to make their mark early in the game but were forced to settle for a couple of Frank Reynolds penalty goals. Josh Hammett kicked one for Barnes and after those early wobbles they took control. With scrum half Josh Davies calling the shots their enterprise and pace on to the ball was rewarded with tries from flanker Alex Farquhar and wing Frank Nickson, both converted by Hammett, and it left the city side with a salvage job on their hands. The transformation after the break was not spectacular but there was a fresh determination and more possession which shaped Canterbury’s game. The pressure built on Barnes and a driving maul, finished off by hooker Tristan King, broke their resistance. Reynolds converted and as the strain once again told on the home defence they collected a yellow card and conceded a second try. Jamie Stephens drove over, Reynolds was on target and the lead was three points. The final stages, like much of the match, were messy with yellow cards on both sides, Canterbury failing to punish Barnes errors and giving away a penalty for obstruction which allowed Hammett to level the scores. To a neutral spectator that might have seemed about right.

Canterbury: K.Braithwaite, G.Hiton (repl D.Heads), F.Morgan, T.Best, T.Williams (repl M .Halliday), F.Reynolds, B.Cooper, , W.McColl (repl A.Cooper), T.King, D.Herriott (repl E.Lusher) J.De Vries (repl R.Cadman), J.Stephens, W.Hunt (repl J.De Vries), S.Rogers, T.Oliver

David Haigh

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v Barnes - 23 Oct 2021

Images subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton
CRFC vs Judds pre-season friendly

Pre-Season Promise

Posted on | by David Haigh

Canterbury 19 Tonbridge Juddians 27

After seventeen months of rugby inaction there was a sense of relief that this pre-season friendly finally lifted the gloom at Canterbury’s Marine Travel Ground. What also lit up the afternoon was the performance of a young Canterbury squad which has lost some its most experienced members during the Covid shut down.

Since these sides last met they have swapped league status, Juddians taking the relegated city club’s place in National Division One.

But it was Canterbury who took the initiative, forcing TJ’s into errors and by the half way stage were leading 14-10 with tries from Tom Best and Sam Sterling, new fly half Frank Reynolds and Best adding conversions.

There was a more experienced look about the visitors squad but they were made to work hard for their scores, one from close quarters and the second a long range run when a city attack went wrong.

With the game split into twenty minute sessions, frequent changes in personnel meant shifts in power and Juddians used them to take control of the sets scrums but still found themselves two point down going into the last session. They grabbed a try from a charge down but Canterbury replied with the best score of the day, finished in style by Jack Weaver. In the final quarter a clever break by Reynolds was frustrated by a dropped pass and the visitors grabbed a couple of scores to edge the game. Canterbury, however, will take so many positives from a match which proved they have solid building blocks on which to construct their season.

David Haigh