Match report – Thanet 3rds vs Canterbury 5ths

THANET 3rds 22pts vs CANTERBURY 5ths 32pts

Canterbury took on league leaders Thanet Wanderers in miserable conditions at Callis court. The city side struck first blood with an opening try after Gareth Thomas broke through in the centre to touch down and give Kevin Stevens the simple conversion. Thanet’s response was swift taking a quick tap penalty caught the city’s defence off guard to claim a try wide out. Thanet then turned the screw keeping the city side on the defence only relived by Stevens slotting a penalty, but Thanet’s efforts were rewarded with a converted try just before halftime to give them a slender two-point lead.

The second half didn’t start well for Canterbury conceding an early penalty before the city started to take control twenty minutes into the half with Kevin Stevens picking up from a maul, selling the dummy to go under the posts giving himself the simple conversion. This opened a purple patch for the city, with Patrick Collins slicing through the defence to touch down followed by Richard Collins chasing a kick through a flat defence to gather under the posts for the simple conversion by Stevens. With fifteen minutes to go Thanet stepped up a gear and it was now Canterbury defence that was tested they held out before conceding a converted try at the end of normal time, however deep into injury time, Canterbury were awarded a long-distance penalty that Stevens slotted to put the game out of sight.