Canons Match Report vs Sittingbourne

By Tom Short

With 4 weeks having passed since their last league fixture, the Canons faced a difficult trip to early league leaders Sittingbourne in a bid to kick start their season.  The task was made harder with 5 forced changes to the line up on Friday due to illness, injury and call ups to the Pilgrims.

With both teams lining up for a minute’s silence before kick off in memory of a Sittingbourne club stalwart who had recently passed away, the power and size advantage that ‘Bourne possessed was clear to see.   And this was soon shown on the pitch, with Sittingbourne using their power, combined with the skill of their fly half to race into a 3 try advantage after 20 minutes.   Canons heads did not drop, and they were finally kickstarted into life following a dominant tackle by Man of the Match Josh Lamb.  Suddenly passes went to hand, half breaks were made, and the Canons were rewarded with their first try of the game.  Sittingbourne overthrew at a lineout, before Jake Forrest collected and went on a powerful run.  The ball was recycled quickly, and made its way to Lamb who beat 4 defenders before being caught by the ‘Bourne winger 10m out from the try line.  He offloaded to winger Jimmy Carlton, who finished well to get the Canons on the scoreboard.  The Canons continued to dominate for the remainder of the half, but could not cross the whitewash thanks to Bourne’s well organised defence, and as the whistle blew for half time the score stood at 19-7 to the home team.

The Canons carried the momentum immediately into the second half.  Following a knock on from the kick off, Canterbury retained possession from their scrum before Lamb broke the line with silky footwork again to create a two on one with winger Harvey Lee, who finished to bring the Canons within 5 – the try was converted by the faultless boot of Kieran Shave.  As the Canons continued to threaten the Sittingbourne defence, ‘Bourne reverted to type when they had possession.  The ‘Bourne forwards dominated in scrum, and eventually the Canons momentum withered, and despite valiant defensive efforts Sittingbourne collected 3 tries in a 20 minute period, from a collective distance of around 9 yards.   Nonetheless, the Canons had the final say in the game, with hooker Ollie Jeffery powering over from 10 minutes in the final play of the game.  Final score, Sittingbourne 36, Canons 21

This Saturday brings what is now deemed to be a grudge match against Old Williamsonians.  The only team to beat the Canons in their victorious Kent Counties 4 season, the weekend presents an intriguing game with both teams searching for a first league win of the season.  Be sure to head the MTG to cheer on the Canons.