Barnstaple vs Canterbury 1st XV

Match Report – Barnstaple RFC vs Canterbury 1st XV

BARNSTAPLE 10pts  CANTERBURY 22pts

A sharper and more focused Canterbury made the most of the Devon sunshine and a firm surface to end a run of two defeats and claim their second National 2 South league win of the season.   In a game that was always tight on the scoreboard a try from the last play of the afternoon, scored by replacement wing Dave Heads, ensured the most deserving side took the points. The gap might have been greater had Canterbury made the most of a high tempo first quarter which kept Barnstaple fully occupied but somehow the finishing touches were missing.  All looked good when a catch and drive then slick work by the backs saw Kyan Braithwaite score the first of his two tries and Frank Reynolds converted. That was after fifteen minutes, and the city side continued to pose a real threat with ball in hand. They went close but frustratingly that was all. When Barntstaple finally broke free they levelled matters with a driving maul try for hooker Nat Bayet and a Jake Murphy conversion.  By half time it was still stalemate after Reynolds and Murphy exchanged penalty goals but a yellow card for Barnstaple centre Johnny Carter, for a deliberate knock on, gave Canterbury an advantage they did not waste.  Four minutes after the break Reynolds carved an opening and Braithwaite was on his inside shoulder to take the scoring pass.   That five point lead began to look fragile as Canterbury then delivered their least impressive period and began to look unsure of themselves. Basic errors, dithering and unwanted penalties handed momentum to the home side.  it was left to some outstanding defensive work, with special mention for back row trio Sam Rogers, Will Hunt and Tyler Oliver, to hold them off. Scarcely a tackle was missed but, having survived,  the city men regained control in the late stages. They might have settled for running down the clock but with the seconds ticking away a charge by young prop Will McColl set up a promising position.  It was exploited to the full as Heads was given a clear run to the posts and Reynolds’ kick capped a much better day at the office.

Canterbury: K.Braithwaite, F.Morgan (repl G.Hilton), W.Waddington, T.Best, T.Williams (repl D.Heads), F.Reynolds, B.Cooper, W.McColl,  (repl A.Cooper),
T .King, D.Herriot, (repl E.Lusher) R.Cadman, J.Stephens (repl S.Churchyard) W.Hunt, S.Rogers, T.Oliver

CRFC vs Dings Crusaders

Match Report – Canterbury 1st XV vs Dings Crusaders

CANTERBURY 0pts  DINGS CRUSADERS 17pts

On a day of extremes, Canterbury looked ill equipped to deal with the gales and rain that swept across the Marine Travel Ground. Conditions were made for hard-nosed West country packs and Crusaders did not disappoint.  Their forwards bossed this game and made sure that when it came their turn to face the elements a twelve point lead was more than enough.  The city side might have hoped that restricting the visitors to two first half tries would give them a decent chance of victory, but they were contained so efficiently that any optimism vanished long before the end. As the Crusaders defence stifled them Canterbury’s frustrations were reflected by a slew of technical penalty offences and scrambled decision making.   In the early minutes of the match there was a glimpse of what might have been under different conditions. The city backs ran from deep to create a great chance that was lost when the final pass missed the support runner.  It was the first and last glimpse of daylight as Crusaders exploited the wind to establish territory and took the lead with a driving maul try from flanker Tom Anderson.   Canterbury did well to resist the pressure they were under but conceded a second try to centre Tom Price from a charged down clearance kick. Ben Bolster added the conversion but at the break the city side could look back on a strong defensive effort. Turning that that to their advantage, however, proved too much.  Driving mauls and wet wet weather are natural bedfellows and Dings used them effectively before Josh Lloyd added a third score to strengthen their grip.  Streetwise and committed to holding on to possession they lured Canterbury into so many errors and misjudgements they cruised home in some comfort.  With a long winter ahead there may be more cloud burst days like this and on this showing the city club, who have now lost four of their five games, will not be looking forward to them.

Canterbury: W.Waddington, K.Braithwaite, A.Moss, T.Best, F.Morgan, F.Reynolds, T .Williams, A.Cooper, T.King, D.Herriott, R.Cadman, J De Vries, J.Stephens, S,Rogers, T.Oliver.  Replacements: W.McColl, E.Lusher, W.Hunt, B,Cooper, J.Weaver

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v Dings Crusaders

Images subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

 

Rochford 100 vs CRFC 1st XV

Match Report – Rochford Hundred vs Canterbury 1st XV

ROCHFORD HUNDRED 20pts – CANTERBURY 1st XV 19pts

A late try could not save Canterbury from their third defeat in four games after a disappointing second half performance.  In a match fragmented by frequent injury stoppages they were subdued and lacking cohesion as they failed to build on their half time lead.   After an ominously slow start which saw league newcomers Rochford take the lead with a try and conversion by fly half Sam Cappaert the city side forced their way back  into the game.  The second quarter brought them two tries and by the interval they were looking slight favourites.  The first resulted from intense forward pressure and when Rochford stopped a driving maul illegally it cost them a penalty try.   Their next seven points owed everything to pace and vision as Aiden  Moss found a gap and Tom Best sent scrum half Tom Williams racing to the posts for Frank Reynolds to convert.    A third try beckoned when Moss opened up Rochford’s mean defence with a chip and chase but a cruel bounce denied him what seemed a nailed on score.  At that point Canterbury were confident and looking in control.

Why they could not carry that momentum into the last forty minutes only they will know.  Rochford looked the hungrier outfit, dominated territory for long periods but at least Canterbury showed plenty of defensive grit. It was a surprise when the home side cracked them from a first phase move which ended in an unvconverted try for Jordan Spivey.   An uninspiring and error prone Canterbury then surrendered the lead to a Cappaert penalty goal  and Rochford extended it to six points with an opportunist try from George Griffiths. There seemed little danger when Mark Billings kick reached half way but the ball broke for the home side and the wingman found himself with a clear run to the corner. When Canterbury did find a couple of attacking positions they were lost through lineout wobbles but they roused themselves in a desperate late surge.  A driving maul try from Tyler Oliver left Reynolds with a hugely difficult kick to win the match. It missed by a whisker but Canterbury will know it was their own shortcoming which really hurt their chances.

CRFC vs Worthing

Match Report – Canterbury 1st XV vs Worthing Raiders

CANTERBURY 29pts  WORTHING 24pts

Canterbury have lift off.  This bonus point victory over a previously unbeaten Worthing could not have been better timed as rugby returned to the Marine travel Ground for the first time in eighteen months.

To register their first league points of the season the city club had to hold their nerve as Raiders dominated second-half territory and mounted a ferocious late assault. But outstanding defence kept them at bay and that as much as their four tries earned Canterbury this success. Having established a nine-point lead by half time they then had to overcome a mental barrier. In their two previous defeats they have thrown a similar advantage away. This time they cut out the errors and produced a score at a critical time.

The catalyst for that first-half lead was wing Sam Sterling who scored two of Canterbury’s three tries and had a substantial role in the other.   His first came after heavy forward pressure opened the way to an overlap, converted from wide out by Frank Reynolds who put behind him two earlier penalty misses.  That was after fifteen minutes but Raiders soon cut the deficit when the impressive Nathan Jibulu, a Harlequins Academy player, finished powerfully. Although he was wearing a wingman’s shirt, however, Sterling roamed everywhere and it was his break that paved the way for flanker Alex Evans to touch down.

Once again the score was pegged back as Raiders made space for a Jerome Rudder try but in the final minute of the half Sterling struck again.  Charging down a kick, he scooped up the ball and outran the chasers to leave Reynolds an easy conversion.  That 19-10 lead looked pretty fragile as Raiders mounted a second-half offensive but finding a way through was another matter.  Canterbury resisted countless line out drives, stifled the Raiders backs but eventually succumbed to Henry Birch’s try which Matt McLean converted.

The city side gathered themselves and broke out to produce a critical score. Fly half Reynolds threaded a kick behind the raiders defence and Tom Best was first to the ball as it bounced under the posts.  Reynolds topped up the try and went on to add a late penalty goal.  Worthing were always in this match and they set nerves jangling in the last five minutes with Cam Dobinson’s converted try.  It was not quite enough thanks to Canterbury’s marvellous defenders.

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v Worthing

Images subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton
Old Albanians vs Canterbury 1st XV

Match Report – Old Albanian vs Canterbury 1st XV

OLD ALBANIAN 29  CANTERBURY 21

Canterbury are still without a league point as they slipped to a second narrow defeat which leaves them in the depths of the National 2 South table.   Once again it was a case of what might have been in a performance that was good at times but spoiled by their own carelessness.

Twice the city club took the lead with well-worked tries; twice they allowed Albanians to claim the restarts and swiftly rub out the advantage with scores of their own.  Those basic failures and missed opportunities in the second half were to prove fatal. It was frustrating because Canterbury were always in the hunt once the game opened up after a nondescript first twenty minutes in which the home side dominated territory.  Dan Watt kicked them into the lead with a penalty goal but Canterbury’s first real pressure brought a clever, sniping try from scrum half Tom Williams which Frank Reynolds converted. The joy of that lasted under two minutes. At the restart Albanian wing Alex Ricci claimed the ball almost unchallenged, sprinted away to score and Watt’s conversion made the error more painful.

With both sides willing to run the ball the action was easy on the eye compared with the kick fests we have seen at higher levels and by half time Canterbury had reclaimed the lead. A yellow card for Ricci was quickly punished as full back Kyan Braithwaite rounded off a sweeping attack and Reynolds increased the margin to four points. Albanian backs got into their stride eight minutes into the second half, slick hands bringing a powerful finish by Tom Mills, with Watt again converting, but Canterbury found a different route to success.  A driving maul broke Albanians with Tristan King claiming the try and Reynolds adding a third conversion. It could have been a vital score. Instead, that second failure of the basics and lessons unlearned saw Albanians grab the restart, march downfield where Morgan Thompson hammered his way over the line.  Watt made the kick good and with ten minutes left on the clock Canterbury’s hopes took a dive when Tyler Oliver was yellow carded.  The home side went for the kill and it duly came with a bonus point try for back rower Ben Charnock.

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v Old Albanian album

Images subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton
BSERC vs CRFC Away

Match Report – Bury St Edmunds vs Canterbury RFC 1st XV

BURY ST EDMUNDS 30 CANTERBURY 22

By Andy Rogers

Given an unprecedented and enforced delay of eighteen months it was of huge credit to both sides that they served up a thoroughly entertaining National 2 South game. The disappointment for Canterbury was finishing on the wrong end of the scoreline after leading at halftime.

In the end it was defensive failures that undid that earlier good work. Despite conceding a first-minute try Canterbury came back to score three of their own before the break. The first saw a steal on the Bury 22 metre line allow Number Eight Tyler Oliver to juggle the ball and touch down.Next was the turn of impressive tight head prop Danny Herriott, in his first start for the club, who took advantage of a dominant line out and burrowed over from close range. It was left to young scrum half Tom Williams – who may have been many peoples man of the match – to score the best try of the game.

Another line out win saw Williams dummy at the base before drifting through the Bury defence to dab down untouched under the posts. Bury replied with a penalty from their ever reliable full back Charlie Reed but with another Canterbury debutant – fly half Frank Reynolds – landing two conversions – and astutely kicking for position when called upon, the city club seemed well set to consolidate their 19-10 half time lead. Bury had other ideas. Directly from the restart, Canterbury’s lack of defensive nous out wide gave Bury winger Mick Stanaway a simple try. Reed converting again. To their credit the young Canterbury side responded positively, moving the ball wide and forcing the home side into some desperate defence. But when a fourth try seemed odds on Bury wing Levi Roper intercepted to run the length of the pitch before putting skipper Matt Bursey in under the posts. That score proved critical because at 27-19 Canterbury were now chasing the game. Reynolds did reply with another penalty but with Bury’s Reed adding three points to complete a perfect kicking performance it was enough to seal the result. Still there were positives for the coaches to work on. The line out and set scrums were impressive. The new half back partnership of Reynolds and Williams looks promising. Lock Jesse De Vries knows how to put in a shift and skipper Jamie Stephens never took a step backwards.

It is the defensive shape in the wide areas that needs immediate attention.

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v Bury St Edmunds

Images subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton
CRFC vs Tunbridge Wells

Game called off

The pre-season match against Tunbridge Wells on on Saturday, August 28th has been cancelled. Unfortunately, Tunbridge Wells have pulled out of the fixture for reasons not specified. The club is trying to find another fixture but at this late stage this is proving difficult. If a game can be arranged the situation will be updated later in the week. The senior squad now plan to hold a training session on Saturday morning..

CRFC vs Judds pre-season friendly

Pre-Season Promise

Canterbury 19 Tonbridge Juddians 27

After seventeen months of rugby inaction there was a sense of relief that this pre-season friendly finally lifted the gloom at Canterbury’s Marine Travel Ground. What also lit up the afternoon was the performance of a young Canterbury squad which has lost some its most experienced members during the Covid shut down.

Since these sides last met they have swapped league status, Juddians taking the relegated city club’s place in National Division One.

But it was Canterbury who took the initiative, forcing TJ’s into errors and by the half way stage were leading 14-10 with tries from Tom Best and Sam Sterling, new fly half Frank Reynolds and Best adding conversions.

There was a more experienced look about the visitors squad but they were made to work hard for their scores, one from close quarters and the second a long range run when a city attack went wrong.

With the game split into twenty minute sessions, frequent changes in personnel meant shifts in power and Juddians used them to take control of the sets scrums but still found themselves two point down going into the last session. They grabbed a try from a charge down but Canterbury replied with the best score of the day, finished in style by Jack Weaver. In the final quarter a clever break by Reynolds was frustrated by a dropped pass and the visitors grabbed a couple of scores to edge the game. Canterbury, however, will take so many positives from a match which proved they have solid building blocks on which to construct their season.

David Haigh