Canons Match Report

It was a tough afternoon at the office for the Canons as the city side fell to a 52-15 defeat against table toppers Sittingbourne.

The Canons knew that they were heading into a physical battle against Sittingbourne, who saw their first defeat of the season the prior week, which provided added venom to the league leaders. Canterbury started positively, and took an early lead following a 45m penalty from Josh Lamb. However the uglier and heavier Sittingbourne soon bounced back for their first try following scrum dominance on a very muddy and boggy top pitch and pushed over from 5m. Within the next 10 minutes, it was déjà vu, as Bourne crossed for a second from another scrum.

Frustration hit the Canons, with silly penalties allowing the visitors to kick the ball into the corner and again maul over from short range. A yellow card followed for Fady Sheta following a no arms tackle, but despite being a man down, the Canons scored next following some good recycling and free flowing rugby. Finding space out wide, Lamb used good footwork to evade the defence and release Kel Katta to score. The conversion was successful and the deficit reduced to 9.  Sittingbourne had the last laugh of the half, again using their forwards to bully their way over and grab the bonus point try.

Despite the score line, Sittingbourne had picked up a number of injuries and the game felt in the balance at half time.  However, Sittingbourne rallied in the second half, and again the forwards used their size and power to wear down the Canons defence 4 more times.  The Canons ended positively, with the excellent Henry Carruthers finishing off a passage of excellent offloading to score a consolation.

Sittingbourne showed why they are top of the league and pushing for promotion into Counties 2. The Canons now have a 2 week break before travelling to old foes Old Williamsonians for a Valentine’s Day love in.