Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Pace proves decisive factor
CANTERBURY LEAVE IT LATE TO KILL OFF SPIRITED CHALLENGE BY DIVISION’S BOTTOM CLUB IN 13-TRY THILLER AT MARINE TRAVEL GROUND
Canterbury’s defending and decision making will bring blushes to their cheeks when they watch the video, as they gifted a try to Exmouth centre Harvey Ridgeway while effective close quarter work by the visitors’ pack was rewarded with touch downs for prop Isaac Dalton and Gibbings.
The potency of the city backs worked its magic when the ball was moved crisply for Martyn Beaumont to race in at the start of the second half but there was no let up in Exmouth’s intensity as they continued to match the home side try for try. Lovely off-loading brought one for centre Martin Wathes before Sam Kenny’s long pass opened the way for Hilton’s pace and tricky running to cut the deficit to four points.
Exmouth pulled away again as slack handling gave them field position for Gibbings’ hat-trick score and a real prospect of victory but Canterbury gathered themselves to find those late, decisive points.
The backs worked a lovely try for JJ Murray, Smart’s quick tap penalty and thrilling run – worth the entrance money alone – snatched back the lead and Townley’s touchdown finished the job.
There was important goal kicking from the Best brothers, Tom adding three conversions and Ollie two. Exmouth’s Richard Cadywould converted four tries but at the death missed a couple of kickable penalties which would have earned his side a deserved second bonus point. Canterbury: A.moss, G.hilton (repl J.jones), JJ Murray, W.farris, M.beaumont, T.best (repl O.best), D.smart, J.green (repl A.cooper), S.rogers, S.kenny, G.edwards (repl (C.townley), T.burns, T.edwards, H.mccormick-huston, M.cantwell (repl L.woodbridge).
Canterbury 4ths were runaway 72-12 winners of their local derby against Ashford 2nds and took a step up the Dragon Fire East League.
Challenged by the lack of available regulars, the team was cobbled together from other club sides but it didn’t show.
The city side dictated the pace and flow of the game and once the Ashford line was breached, the scores flowed steadily.
Penetrating runs through the heart of the Ashford defence by Abercrombie and Howard set the stage for support runners and the wings.
The principal beneficiaries were Childs, Tomes (2) and Jaynes while Howard and Rowden both chipped in with tries.
Meredith had also weighed-in with a typical long-range effort and two conversions as Canterbury cruised home. National League 2 South
PWD L F A Ps Chinnor ............. 13 11 0 2 545 193 55 O Elthamian ...... 13 11 0 2 413 227 52 Bishps Stort ...... 13 10 0 3 425 248 52 Redruth ............ 13 10 0 3 393 266 48 Taunton T’s ...... 13 9 0 4 452 354 48 Canterbury ........ 13 7 0 6 366 325 39 R’gensians ........ 13 6 1 6 314 259 33 Bury St Ed......... 13 6 0 7 311 351 32 Cinderford......... 13 6 1 6 289 337 30 Clifton ............... 13 6 0 7 278 391 29 Worthing ........... 13 5 0 8 273 329 25 Barnstaple ........ 13 4 1 8 232 429 21 London Irish ...... 13 3 0 10 286 418 21 Barnes .............. 13 2 2 9 262 375 21 Henley .............. 13 4 0 9 302 398 20 Exmouth ........... 13 1 1 11 259 500 14 Results: Taunton Titans 38 Henley 27, Canterbury 48 Exmouth 38, Cinderford 29 Bury St Edmunds 26, Bishop’s Stortford 30 Chinnor 22, Clifton 25 Redingensians 19, Barnstaple 27 London Irish Wild Geese 10, Old Elthamians 49 Barnes 3, Worthing 27 Redruth 29. Fixtures: Barnes v Canterbury, Exmouth v Clifton, Redingensians v Bishop’s Stortford, Redruth v Taunton Titans, Chinnor v Worthing, Bury St Edmunds v Old Elthamians, Cinderford v Barnstaple, Henley v London Irish Wild Geese.
Shepherd Neame Kent 2 Old G’send .......... 9 9 0 0 453 44 44 RBS .................... 9 8 0 1 385 60 39 Whitstable ........ 10 7 1 2 282 125 36 Lordswood ........ 10 7 0 3 266 144 33 Foots Cray .......... 9 6 0 3 270 78 31 Orpington............ 9 5 0 4 150 199 24 Faversham.......... 9 4 0 5 234 179 22 Askean ............... 9 4 0 5 118 342 18 Greenwich .......... 9 3 0 6 172 235 17 Bexley ................ 9 2 1 6 142 305 12 Dartford Vall........ 9 1 0 8 115 321 6 Erith.................... 9 1 0 8 49 396 4 Shooters Hill ..... 10 2 0 8 92 300 0 Results: Askean 14 Bexley 12, Erith AWO Old Gravesendians, Foots Cray 13 Whitstable 18, Lordswood 19 Orpington 10, Royal Bank of Scotland 41 Greenwich 0, Shooters Hill 3 Dartford Valley 50. Fixtures: Bexley v Erith, Dartford Valley v Lordswood, Greenwich v Foots Cray, Old Gravesendians v Royal Bank of Scotland, Orpington.