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Canterbury Second Best
DORKING 42 CANTERBURY 22
by David Haigh
In the lead up to this game Canterbury Head Coach Matt Corker challenged his squad to show they were capable of matching the top clubs in National 2 East. At third placed Dorking they failed to make their case against a side whose greater sharpness and accuracy produced seven tries. That try count was bettered only by eight yellow cards dished out by an official who was a stickler for the letter of the law but the flow of the game often suffered in consequence and it was Canterbury who paid the greater price on the scoreboard. After a bright start and a Frank Reynolds penalty goal, tries from Fraser Mosley and Jonny Ellis, and a Henry Anscombe conversion, gave Dorking the lead but a burst by Alex Evans and a corner flag try for Cameron Murray pegged them back. Then came yellow cards in quick succession for Jamie Stephens and Shay Kerry and the home side cashed in on penalties and superior numbers with tries from wing Will Sanders and lock Jasper King. Before half time it was Dorking’s turn to see yellow but any Canterbury chances were squandered as they were turned over in good positions and trailed by fifteen points at the break. The march to the sin bin soon got under way in the second half and with Tyler Oliver and Alfie Orris doing time Dorking began to pull away. The back division, crisp and certain in using possession provided by a mobile pack, did the damage with tries for scrum half George Jackson and centre Tom Howe before the final quarter. By comparison, Canterbury’s efforts to spread the attack looked clunky and in the 67th minute Dorking Number Eight Finn Osborne crowned an impressive display with his side’s seventh try. The hosts were handed the last two of those annoying yellow cards and the city side were able to register late, face saving scores through a penalty try and an overlap opportunity taken by Nathan Morris, converted beautifully by Reynolds. An Anscombe’s penalty goal completed Dorking’s points haul but had he produced a better day with the boot the victory would have been even more emphatic.
Canterbury; W.Waddington, G.Jones, F.Morgan, T.Best, A.Orris (repl B.Law), F.Reynolds, T.Williams (repl B.Cooper), E.Lusher E.O’Donoghue (repl N.Morris), D.Herriott (repl D.Huntley), S.Kerry, J.Stephens, A.Evans (repl T.Mackenzie), C.Murray, T.Oliver
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