LATE REVIVAL FALLS JUST SHORT

CANTERBURY 31 OLD ALBANIAN 34

by David Haigh

A game that seemed to be slipping away from Canterbury was turned round in dramatic fashion but still left them agonisingly short of an opening day league victory. Three city tries in the final quarter of a contest which had been largely dominated by Albanians, almost wiped out a 20 point deficit. That determined late effort earned Canterbury two league points and for a squad missing a core of experienced players because of injury that was some consolation. With a demanding National 2 East month ahead of them it was a test for a side containing several new faces and their resilience will have pleased Head Coach Matt Corker. But for the first hour they were second best to an Albanian team that controlled possession, were more assured in their handling and good at the break down.. They were also quick to exploit gaps around he rucks and, ominously, that took them into an early lead as centre Alex Noot cantered over and and Elliot McPhun converted. A penalty led to an equalising score for Canterbury as wing Garry Jones joined a driving maul and got the touchdown, converted by Lewis Hollidge,but they carried limited attacking threat after that. However, if the city side lacked Albanian’s accuracy, they were strong in defence and that kept the first half scoreline manageable.. Albanians found two more tries before half time, Harry Charter finishing a series of pick and goes and McPhun darting off a five metre scrum and converting. A Hollidge penalty goal restricted the gap to nine points at the break but it was the opening minutes of the second half that did the real damage Tries from Tiane Elone and Cameron Grey, plus a McPhun conversion, were down to Canterbury errors which handed Albanians prime field positions. But with the game now looking done and dusted, the city side sensed tiredness in the opposition ranks and they struck. Tom Williams and Harry Sloan set up a second try for Jones, but a naive mistake let McPhun claw back three important points from a penalty goal. Now, though. the home pack went to work effectively against the rattled visitors and won two mauling tries for new boy Lucas Eule, all converted by Hollidge. Suddenly, an unlikely win looked possible but the final try came only four minutes from the close and that window proved too small.

Canterbury: O.Collins, M.Campbell, F.Morgan, H.Sloan, G.Jones, L.Hollidge, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, S.Rogers, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, G.Trapp, R.Thomas, M.McCormack. Replacements: T.Williams, L.Eule, J.Dengate, O.Ashley-Jones, C.Macmillan