SEASON ENDS IN STYLE

CANTERBURY 94 OXFORD HARLEQUINS 0

by David Haigh

This huge victory in the final game of the league season was perhaps all too easy against National 2 East’s bottom side. In the process, Canterbury’s free flowing style saw them win the bonus point in the first 20 minutes and go on to stack up fourteen tries. Quins were not at full strength so the city squad brought their own fresh mix to the match. But from wing Garry Jones’ sixth minute try it was clear that a changed line-up was still too potent for the relegated visitors. After Jones had set the tone, there were four more touchdowns in the opening quarter, shared equally between forwards and backs, as Tyler Oliver, Tom Williams, Eoin O’Donoghue and Jamie Stephens kept the scoreboard busy. In control of possession and moving the ball at pace, Canterbury ruthlessly exploited poor tackling and by half time were 52 points ahead. Owain Collins, Jones again and Mo Pangarker, who made an immediate impact from the bench, all crossed for tries. There was no let up in the second half, with front row men Dan Huntley and Cameron Macmillan soon powering over from close range. Pangarker and wing Archie English were next on the sheet, creating and finishing as the spaces kept opening up, but the afternoon’s real eye catcher came from hooker O’Donoghue. His foot work and pace over 50 metres was a thing of beauty. The final nail was hammered into Quins by a second try from Williams and with twelve conversions – ten for Frank Reynolds and two by Presley Farrance – the last target was the 100 points mark. Canterbury narrowly missed it but no one was complaining.

Canterbury: P.Farrance, G.Jones, O.Collins, H.Sloan, F.Morgan, F.Reynolds, T.Williams, C.Macmillan, E.O’Donoghue, O.Frostick, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, M.McCormack, R.Thomas, T.Oliver. Replacements: A.English, M.Pangarker, J.Everatt, D.Huntley, W.Waddington