Second Half Slump

DORKING 31 CANTERBURY 7

by David Haigh

Canterbury were blown away in the second half at windswept Dorking. In a game of a remarkable eight yellow cards they failed to push home their dominance when wind and slope worked in their favour and a narrow 7-5 half time lead never looked enough. The home side, who put in a tremendous defensive shift when down to thirteen players in the early stages, made no mistake when they had the advantage and emphasised their control after the break with four tries. Canterbury’s early dominance of territory, and two Dorking men in the sin bin, gave them the opportunity to build a meaningful lead. However, their persistence in attacking on a narrow front and an excellent defence confined them to single try from Number Eight Tyler Oliver, converted by Frank Reynolds. Putting more faith in the back division might have paid better dividends but the only other scoring chance was a failed penalty shot. Dorking not only survived but shortly before half time produced a try of their own with full back Max Coyle making the running before Tom Hardwick got the touchdown. They were quickly on the attack in the second half and a yellow card for Olly Frostick, Canterbury’s second at this point, cost them a penalty and a close range try from Will Scholes, converted by Hardwick. Once they were in front Dorking tightened their grip as they dominated the set scrums and denied the city side any real momentum. They set their backs free to create a try for wing Will Sanders and renewed forward pressure won a penalty try when Canterbury collapsed a maul on their own line. There was one small glimpse of redemption for the city side but a desperate ankle tap denied Tom Wiliiams a score before they conceded a converted try to Tom Howe in the last play of the game. It left a disappointing Canterbury not only counting the cost of a defeat that sent them down to ninth place in the National 2 East table but also a mounting injury list after losing centre Harry Sloan in the first half.

CANTERBURY: L.Talbot, G.Jones, H.Sloan, W.Waddington, H.Furneaux, F.Reynolds, T.Williams, D.Huntley, E.O’Donoghue, O.Frostick, C.McGovern, J.Stephens, J.Walker, R.Thomas, T.Oliver. Replacements C.Macmillan, A.English, L.Young, J.Dengate, H.Kenny