Category: 5th XV

Canterbury 5th v Gravesend 4th
Canterbury 19pts. Gravesend 4th 35pts.

This makeshift Zingari side made a poor start against a well drilled Gravesend fifteen. The home side used their heavier pack to dominate territory and possession and with it came early tries and the conversions with some excellent place kicking. Canterbury reeling from their early battering recovered late in the first half making the most of possession inside the Gravesend twenty-two for Jonnie Gaylor to break the line out wide for the city’s first try. Gravesend reply was almost instant with another try, but Canterbury had the last word with Tom Goode bulldozing his way through the Gravesend defence to reduce the deficit to 28-12 at halftime with the converted try. The second half saw Canterbury come under intense pressure for the first ten minutes conceding another try, but this time unconverted. The Zingari however were looking more comfortable despite losing their only recognised kicker were adapting to their unfamiliar positions. It had been a steep learning curve with a lot of the players adapting to their new positions now put Gravesend on the back foot before putting the ball wide for Dan Till siding in near the posts for a converted try to give an air of respectability to the final score.

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Canterbury 35 – 36 Weavering 1st XV

The Zingari lost out to a strong top of the table well drilled Weavering side by the narrowest possible margin after a hard-fought contest that went down to the wire. After a shaky start Canterbury conceding three try’s and two conversions within the first fifteen minutes until many players drafted into unfamiliar positions began to settle. Desperate to avoid their experience at Edenbridge under similar circumstances a few weeks earlier battled hard, and in the last quarter of the half managed to get the ball wide for the backs to show what they could do with two converted tries’ reducing the deficit. However, it was Weavering who had the last word of the half using their well drilled pack driving deep into Canterbury territory forcing an unconverted try to give them a 24-14 point halftime lead.

The second half saw Weavering make an early strike with an unconverted try to extend their lead. The city forwards redoubled their efforts in the light of this early setback, and Weavering never looked as dominant as they had previously. Both sides defences dominated and it wasn’t until halfway through the second half both sides exchanged converted tries. As the game went into the last quarter the Zingari step up a gear, even their scrum held up, and it wasn’t long before they were putting pressure on the Weavering in all departments. This gave the backs the opportunity to run in another converted try, and a few minutes later a combination of forwards and backs broke through to go under the posts, and with the conversion were within a point. With seven minutes on the clock, it was all to play for, Canterbury pressured the line time and again, but Weavering’s defence held out to give them the win with the narrowest margin in a game that was a credit to both sides.

Zingari 0 – Vigo 2nds 56

The Zingari suffered their worst defeat of the season against a strong Vigo second side. Canterbury was under the cosh from the outset against a well drilled heavy experienced pack. Their direct running sucked in the city defence creating opportunities outside for them to run in two converted try’s in the first ten minutes. There was no let up as the half continued, Vigo adding two more to give them a healthy halftime lead.

The second half started the same way canterbury conceding two more converted trys with the Vigo place kicker seeming to be able to slot the conversions from any angle seemed to seal the Zingari fate. Despite the early pressure you could expected the Zingari to implode. Instead despite conceding two more try’s before the finale whistle showed remarkable resistance. Many of the players out of their normal positions instead collapsing made the opposition work hard for every meter in a show of defiance earning respect in a hard fought contest.

Canterbury 21 – 5 Leigh

The zingari had to endure the hardest opening half of the season so far. Leigh came at them from the start setting up camp just outside the Zingari twenty-two with a move from the training pitch, and quick ball from a scrum created the overlap on the blind side to go over in the corner. With the opening score under their belt leigh’s forwards pressed hard dominating at the set piece, and quite a lot of possession in the loose. However, as the half-progressed the Zingari’s resistance developed, and by halftime they had taken the early sting out of Leigh’s attack. The second half saw a complete change from the start, with the city sides forwards driving deep into Leigh’s territory for Jack Waite to finish off with a try converted by Finn McCabe. Leigh’s forwards rallied but as the half progressed and with some aggressive tackling Leigh found themselves confined more into their half of the pitch. As the game entered the last quarter the city side’s forwards started to gain quality possession feeding their backs who started to make inroads, first to profit was Richard Collins breaking through to touch down out wide, converted by Simon Crossley. This seemed to inspire the backs who repeatedly breeched the gain line keeping Leigh on the back foot. The game got a little fractious at this point but the Zingari forwards stuck to their task again releasing their backs, this time it was Geoge Thomas with a tackle breaking run who sliced through to touch down out wide, leaving Simon Crossley with the difficult conversion hitting the crossbar on the way over to close out the match.

Tries
George Thomas 1
Richard Collins 1
Jack Waite 1

Conversions
Simon Crossley 2
Fin Mc Cabe 1

Canterbury 47 – Sittingbourne 2nd 40

The Zingari avenged their earlier defeat at the hands of Sittingbourne 2nds in an exciting hard-fought contest that went down to the wire. It was the Zingari that opened with will Rayner breaking free on the outside to go over in the corner followed by George Thomas tackle breaking run to go under the posts for the simple conversion. More was to follow as Sittingbourne failed to subdue Canterbury’s backs as they splintered the defence finished with Jake Upward followed father and son pairing in the centres putting away his son George Thomas for his second converted try. This was all beginning to look one way until the last ten minutes of the half when Sittingbourne played to their strengths keeping the ball tight and using their powerful forwards driving within a few meters of the city before crashing over from short range to put themselves on the score board. This tactic proved to be successful and was repeated five minutes later with a score under the posts, and on the stroke of halftime Canterbury succumbed to another driving maul to reduce the city to seven points at halftime.

The start of the second half could not have been worse for the city side to conceding a penalty try after bring down a driving maul on their line levelling the scores. Canterbury who never looked happy against Sittingbourne’s well drilled heavier pack looked happier in the loose, it was down to Jake Forrest to reestablish their lead with a crashing run touching down near the posts. A few minutes later a Will Rayner gathered a poor clearance kick and jinked his way through a scatted defence before touching down behind the posts. Unable to cope with the city backs Sittingbourne reverted to their forward power with a drive from a five-meter lineout to snatch a converted try back. With the game going into the last five minutes, it was time for George Thomas hat trick as he handed off would be tacklers before dotting down behind the posts, and with Sam Roud conversions looked like a winning margin. Sittingbourne had other ideas, and on the stroke of full time they again used their rolling maul to great effect to reduce the city lead. The city side then had to endure six minutes of extra time with both teams battling it out before the Zingari could claim one of their hardest league wins of the season.

Tries

George Thomas 3
Jake Forrest 1
Will Rayner 2
Jake Upward 1

Conversions

Sam Roud 6

Canterbury 32 –Weavering 24

The Zingari were a little apprehensive taking on top of the table Weavering Warriors while carrying a long injury list that began to look justified in the opening moments. The warriors from the kick off controlled the opening exchanges and got their reward with a try with just ten minutes on the clock. It wasn’t until twenty minutes into the half before the Canterbury pack began to click securing quality ball their backs used to great effect. First was Gareth Thomas breaking the line for the city’s first try, quickly followed by Ben Knight out stripping the defence to go round behind the post giving Brad Allchurch the simple conversion. This seemed to instil confidence into the forwards with some of the less experienced coming into their own with Lawrence Frattaroli, & Tom goode making some devastating breaks to set up George Thomas emulating his fathers previous try with a try of his own. This was followed by Edward Cockell for his first try of the afternoon touching down out wide to build a comfortable halftime for the city side.

The second half started much the same with the city dominating the loose sending the ball wide to give Edward Cockell his second try of the afternoon, keeping up the pressure the city forwards got within ten meters of the line before Richard Collins broke free to go over the line. As the game went into the last quarter Canterbury sitting on their substantial lead began to ease off were soon to pay the price for this complacency The Warriors forwards sensed the shift in momentum and pressed hard with some of their best plays of the afternoon, finding gaps in the city ‘s defence racket up two well taken converted try’s. With the game going into the last minutes the City side found themselves with a fight on their hands, determined not to give away their advantage they increased their tackle rate and scramble defence. This seemed to blunt their attack until the last play of the game with the warriors making a last effort to go over in the corner, not enough to affect the result but enough to show why they were league leaders.

Canterbury 37 – 17 Ashford Barbarians

This was a physical contest from the outset with both sets of forwards trying to dominate, while the Barbarians held the upper hand at the set piece the Zingari had the advantage in the loose. This led to Canterbury’s first try with Toby Allen picking off a ball on the outside with a straight dash to the line. Next up was Brad Allchurch showing what he could do from close range with a tackle breaking charge to go over out wide. Ashford reply was swift, their forwards building pressure before they found a gap in the city defence to claim back a try with a charge from short range. With twenty minutes on the clock Canterbury now entered a purple patch, keeping the ball alive running everything, even from deep in their own half began to pay dividends, First Joe Rumsey out stripping the defence ran the ball behind the posts for the city’s only conversion courtesy of Brad Allchurch. This was followed by Will Rayner jinking his way round his would-be tacklers to touch down, and on the stroke of half time Jerome Weigh was on hand to burrow his way over to give the Zingari a well-earned half time cushion.

The second half saw the Barbarians trying to keep the ball tight that paid dividends with an early try, only to be thwarted when the city pounced on a loose ball and set off down field to be finished off with Connor Langley making a scything run over the line. Ashford Barbarians kept to their game plan bringing them success after concerted forward pressure on the city line rewarded them with a converted try. The city now had to endure more of the same, and set themselves into defensive mode with some heroic tackling and scramble defence that proved enough to hold their line. As the game went into the closing minutes, and deep in defence the Zingari manage to secure a loose ball sending it wide to Toby Allen, who then turned the defender before cutting back inside to win the sprint to the lime cementing the Zingari win.

Tries

Toby Allen 2
Jerome Weigh 1
Joe Rumsey 1
Will Rayner 1
Brad Allchurch 1
Connor Langley 1

Conversions

Brad Allchurch 1

Deal & Betteshanger Lions 2nd XV 24 – 46 Zingari

Again, the Zingari take maximum points with a display of open running rugby against a sometimes-rampant Lions pack. The city side opened their account with an early try from Thomas, followed minutes later by George Ayres touching down before convert his own try. This early onslaught by Canterbury prompted the Lions pack into action, with some devastating drives into the city defence that yielded a well taken converted try before the Zingari managed to stem the flow. First with Thomas and then Brad Allchurch crashing over the line, and with George Ayres conversions the city side looked to be building a comfortable lead. However, the Lions had other ideas, their forwards pressured Canterbury into conceding three points with a penalty before snatching a try and conversion just before halftime.

The second half started as the first finished with Deal & Betts forwards breaking the city line with a try & conversion putting them within striking distance of the city. Canterbury pack aware of the situation sensibly played to their strengths, while the Lions well drilled pack dominated the set piece the city exceled in the open broken play keeping the ball alive. First to take advantage of this style of play was Toby Allen and George Ayres both touching down out wide. Deal & Betts Lions now stretched across the field found it more difficult to combat these tactics, and in the last few minutes Canterbury sealed it up with a move started on halfway spreading the ball down the line for Allen to squeeze in the corner to tie up the match.

Tries
Thomas 2
George Ayres 2
Toby Allen 3
Brad Allchurch

Conversions
George Ayres 3

Zingari 40pts. Tunbridge Wells 3rd 39pts.

The Zingari take maximum points by the narrowest possible margin against a highly competitive Tunbridge Wells 3rd team. The city side were made to work hard from the outset with Tunbridge laying down a marker in the opening minutes with a try out wide. Canterbury’s response minutes later was equally swift with centre Will Rayner breaking the line to touch down and Simon Crossly conversion put Canterbury ahead. This state of affairs didn’t last long with the Tunbridge forwards forcing over out wide, followed by Canterbury wingman Joe Rumsey outstripping the defence in the corner. Tunbridge again hit back through their forwards this time with a converted try followed by Canterbury’s Will Rayner interception running the ball unopposed under the posts for Crossley’s conversion, that was to prove crucial with the final score. With Half time approaching Tunbridge hit a purple patch aided by some poor Canterbury tackling racking up three quick tries, and a conversion giving them a comfortable half time lead.

The second half started with Canterbury pulling one converted try back thanks to a jinking run by Will Rayner, and crossly conversion, before we saw Tunbridge’s best try of the afternoon with their wingman diving into the corner to touch down. However, from this point onward the city forwards raised their game producing attacking ball that stretched the Tunbridge defence. The city backs exploited the overlaps with Will & Joe running in tries for Simon Crossley conversions to give the city side the narrowest margin to sealed the game.

Tries
Will Raynor 4
Joe Rumsey 2

Conversions
Simon Crossley 5

Deal & Betts Lion 3rd 19 Canterbury Zingari 52.

The Zingari gave one of their best all-round performances of the season to cement the Kent Rural C East league title. The Lions started well using a powerful pack to pressure the Canterbury try line before bursting through to open their account. This looked ominous as the city side had to counter the heavier Lions forwards through speed and agility, That opened the way for Will Rayner to break free an go under the posts for his first of his six tries. The city pack found the right formula, their backs feasting on quick ball spread wide early opening up a Lions ragged defence for Will Rayner make two more touch downs. Kevin Stevens, who ended with six conversions, topped them up but next on the score sheet was Jonnie Gaynor. It looked all one way traffic until the Lions forwards worked their way to the city try line and broke through for a converted try. Undeterred, more Canterbury pressure was rewarded when Raynor intercepted and sprinted to the line, and a few minutes later ran through weak tackles to end under the posts. If Canterbury thought they were going to carry on where they had left off, they were mistaken. In the opening minutes of the new half Lions broke free from a maul in midfield for a converted try. Their pack now took on more of the work load but the city defence was up to the job and they eventually got back on the front font. As the game when into the last ten minutes a now visibly stretched the Lions side opened up for Raynor to touch down and Stevens to slot the conversion. Canterbury launched one final attack for their best try of the afternoon, the forwards driving to within a few metres of the line and sending quick ball to the backs where that man Rayner again found the finishing touch.