Category: 1st XV

BURY ST EDMUNDS 38 CANTERBURY 40

by David Haigh

Being on the wrong end of close run things has become Canterbury’s default position in recent games but here they reversed a sequence of four defeats by surviving a second half battering to complete a league double over the Suffolk club. How they came to be in trouble after establishing a 31-7 lead by half time will be top of the post match inquest. In the first forty minutes the city side played some of their most effective rugby of the season as pace, accuracy and flair brought four tries and a bonus point. After the turn round they looked a different side as they came under constant pressure from a motivated Bury who added five tries to their solitary first half score. Canterbury struggled for possession , created only one real try scoring opportunity and it was only the unfailing accuracy of fly half Frank Reynolds kicking, with three penalty goals, that saw them home. It was Reynolds who slotted the first three points of the game before Bury were taken apart. It started with ball spread wide from a catch and drive where Harry Sloan speared over. Next came a sharp break by Presley Farrance, finished by Frank Morgan, and the scrum half was again involved in the move which brought Harvey Furneaux a third try. When Bury made rare progress they gave a small hint of things to come, breaking off a maul for a try by James Harrison converted by Callum Hall. It seemed a minor blip when Jessie De Vries marched over under the posts two minutes before the break and Reynolds kicked his fourth conversions. Then the game was turned on its head by a Bury side determined to mark the start of the club’s centenary celebrations with a better show. They took just three minutes to strike through a catch and drive score by Finn McCartney and the pressure on penalty prone Canterbury very rarely eased. McCartney again, and Alex Earnshaw crossed, both converted by Hall, before Reynolds kept his city side ten points in front. Bury responded with tries by George Grigg-Pettit and, late on, a converted touchdown from George Loose. But it was not enough as Reynolds kept them at bay with a massive strike from half way and another nerveless kick five minutes from time.

Canterbury: A.Moss, H.Furneaux, H.Sloan, W.Waddington, F.Morgan, F.Reynolds, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, E.O’Donoghue, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens T.Mackenzie. Replacements: C.McGovern, D.Herriott, T. Williams, S.Rogers, T.Best

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Images may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

CANTERBURY 18 OLD ALBANIAN 21

by David Haigh

A try in the final minute of the game condemned Canterbury to their fourth consecutive defeat as they let a first half lead of eighteen points slip away. It was a sobering experience for a city side that lost its way in a mixture of flawed decisions, basic errors and Albanians domination of the breakdown. The fall from grace frustrated a big crowd who watched Canterbury control the first forty minutes but never do quite enough with all their territory and possession. Head Coach Matt Corker admitted: “We left points out there ” and that hard fact came back to bite them. They started brightly enough and only an unlucky bounce robbed Presley Farrance of a score as he chased Garry Jones’ chip kick. The scrum half made amends for that in the ninth minute after Eoin O’Donoghue launched the initial break, the forwards piled in and Frank Reynolds converted. The city side went looking for more and, despite the loss of Jones with a ham string injury, they were constantly dangerous in the wide channels where debutant Harry Sloan caused Albanians defence all kinds of problems. He was part of the move that sent Harvey Furneaux over for the second try but although Reynolds conversion attempt hit a post he was to prove the only provider of more points before half time. Canterbury had their chances but failed to deliver and relied on the fly half’s two penalty goals. The visitors had hardly been a threat up to that point but all that changed in the opening minute of the second half. A lineout move and a missed tackle saw flanker Archie Radovanovic cross and Patrick Bishop convert. From there Canterbury failed to exploit their strengths, were turned over in possession all too easily and slumped into mediocrity. A punishing break by OA scrum half Bailey Thomas set up his side’s second try, scored by back rower Ben Alexander and converted by Bishop, and a Canterbury struggling to get front foot ball found themselves hanging on. As the clock ticked down they held up one attack over their own line but in the last play Thomas finished off a barrage of pick and go’s as he squeezed over. Bishop kicked his third conversion to remind Canterbury of how far they had fallen.

Canterbury: A.Moss, G.Jones, H.Sloan, W.Waddington, H.Furneaux, F.Reynolds, P.Farrance, O.Frostick, E.O’Donoghue, A.Cooper, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, C.Thomas, S.Rogers, T.Oliver. Replacements: C.Macmillan, H.Kenny, C.McGovern, T.Williams, F.Morgan

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Images may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

BARNES 45 CANTERBURY 35
by Chris Fullbrook

A stunning second half fight back rescued Canterbury’s pride and a losing bonus point against the league’s second placed side. Trailing by 40 points at half time they were a revitalised team after the break as they hit Barnes with five tries. The city side were barely off the bus before they found themselves trailing to the first of six tries. Barnes started their onslaught after only three minutes when second row Ryan Nixon crashed over from close range. Handling errors in midfield then allowed the hosts to quickly counter-attack with a try from scrum-half Iago Davies under the posts. A regulation catch and drive try, finished by hooker Ethan Sikorski, was followed by further first half touchdowns for full back Elliot Haydon and another for Sikorski. With Haydon landing five conversions Canterbury’s prospects of taking anything from the game seemed bleak. However, whatever was said by Head Coach Matt Corker at half time awoke his side with hooker Eoin O’Donoghue crashing over five minutes into the second period. A rare visit into the Canterbury half saw Barnes’ Haydon scoring his second try of the game but the rest of the action belonged totally to the city side. Ollie Frostick powered over from short range, whilst replacement scrum-half Presley Farrance found a gap on the short side from the base of a five metre scrum. Canterbury’s second half dominance continued with flying Dutchman Jesse de Vries taking an offload from skipper Jamie Stephens before beating the home side’s defence with a mazy run from forty yards out. Aaron Cooper completed the comeback, diving across the line from a close-range ruck. The league’s leading points scorer, Frank Reynolds, added conversions to all the second half tries but Canterbury were left to rue errors and a slow start. The consolation was that four try losing bonus point and they retain their fourth spot in the National2 East table.

Canterbury: W.Waddington, G.Jones, F.Morgan, T.Best, H.Furneaux, F.Reynolds, T.Williams, D.Huntley, E.O’Donoghue, O.Frostick, C.McGovern, J.Stephens, C.Thomas, S.Rogers, T.Oliver, Replacements A.Cooper, P.Farrance, A.Moss, J.De Vries, H.Kenny

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Images may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

CANTERBURY 23 TONBRIDGE JUDDIANS 46

by David Haigh

The league leaders gave Canterbury an impressive demonstration of accuracy and finishing power as they marched to this National 2 East victory. They built a winning platform in the first half, held off a spirited challenge in the third quarter then closed out the game decisively with three tries in the final ten minutes. An early lead for the city side, from a Frank Reynolds penalty goal, was quickly wiped out by a hat trick of tries by Juddians hooker Will Colling, all if them coming directly or indirectly from catch and drives as Canterbury paid the price of conceding penalties. Their troubles were compounded by injuries to full back Kurt Heatherley and wing Harvey Young, which meant a reshuflle of the back division, but after Colling had struck twice and the conversions failed , Reynolds kept them in touch with two further penalty goals. When Juddians pounced again with a third try, spreading the ball from a driving maul before Colling barreled over, the kick was again off target but two minutes before the break they worked a bonus point score for prolific wing Curtis Barnes and their first successful conversion opened a 22-9 lead. It was, however a newly energised Canterbury that emerged for the second half to put Juddians under sustained pressure. It brought them a try through Frank Morgan’s powerful finish and Reynolds conversion narrowed the gap to six points. But for all the territory they occupied and pressure applied in this dominant period the city side could not turn it into further scores. Handling errors were the chief culprit against an aggressive visiting defence and a Connor Lloyd penalty goal for Juddians disrupted the flow. Canterbury could not be faulted for effort but they faded and were ruthlessly exposed in the closing stages. A break in midfield left Howard Packman a straight run in; Lloyd spotted acres of space on the blind side of a maul to hand Barnes his second try and, as Canterbury gamely tried to attack, Charlie Self intercepted Reynolds pass to charge in for the seventh try. Lloyd converted all of them but there was last minute consolation for the city side when Sam Rogers, who worked tirelessly all day, forced his way over and Reynolds conversion ended a contest in which the title chasers were, unmistakably, the better side.

Canterbury: K.Heatherley, G.Jones, F.Morgan, W.Waddington, H.Young, F.Reynolds, P.Williams, D.Huntley, E.O’Donoghue, D.Herriott, C.McGovern, J.Stephens, C.Thomas, S.Rogers, T.Oliver. Replacements: T.Best, H.Furneaux, A.Cooper, O.Frostick, J.De Vries.

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Images may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

CANTERBURY 23 TONBRIDGE JUDDIANS 46

HAVANT 5 CANTERBURY 61

by David Haigh

The bare statistics of this Canterbury performance read as follows: nine tries scored, a winning run now standing at five games and the season’s biggest victory which closed the gap on third placed Dorking in the National 2 East league table to just two points. Equally impressive was the combination of efficiency and panache they displayed in achieving this win. The city side arrived with a reshuffled squad plagued by injury and illness but their flexibility and depth of talent banished any doubts as they produced a stunning display of attacking rugby. They were thirty points in front by half time, with a try bonus secured, and after a cautious start proved deadly with the ball in hand. An early Frank Reynolds penalty goal was the only score until the nineteenth minute when the fly half’s pin point cross kick was plucked out of the air by Kurt Heatherley for the opening try. The work in the loose of an aggressive pack now began to pay dividends, with back row trio of Chad Thomas, Sam Rogers and Tyler Oliver in prime form. Havant, vulnerable in defence and eclipsed at the line outs, had no answers as Canterbury used their domination of possession to maximum effect. Adventurous handling created a wonderful second try which started behind their own line, went the length of the field and Garry Jones finished off. A catch and drive from the pack was next with Eoin O’Donoghue touching down and the bonus point score went to Rogers who was on the end of more swift off loading. A second penalty goal and conversion from Reynolds completed the first half set and it took just two minutes of the new half for Havant to crack again, Jones’ powerful hand off making space for Oliver’s try. Havant rallied over the next twenty minutes as Canterbury’s ball retention went missing but they found the city defence a real stumbling block. The hosts came away with just a catch and drive try from Cam Boa but in the final quarter Canterbury overpowered them with four more tries, three of them converted. As the frequent line breaks came and Havant wilted there was one for Tom Best, back on first team duty, quickly followed by Tom Williams and Harvey Furneaux and another for that serial poacher O’Donoghue who rounded off Canterbury’s memorable afternoon with a score from a quick tap penalty in the final minute.
Canterbury: K.Heatherley, G.Jones, W.Waddington, T.Best, T.Williams, F.Reynolds, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, E. Donoghue, D.Herriott, J.Stephens, C.Thomas, S.Rogers, T.Oliver. Replacements: A.Cooper, H.Furneaux, M.Campbell, O Frostick, D.Irvine

After the game Head Coach Matt Corker said:
“I am very happy with how clinical we were in attack. There were obviously a good number of tries but I don’t feel like we wasted many opportunities, which is pleasing. There was also a very important period early in the second half, after we had conceded, where our hard work in defence kept a physical Havant “team from adding to their tally. The way we wrestled back control from this pressure shows the progress we are making.” 

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Images may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton