Canterbury Hang Tough For Victory

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