Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Few crumbs of comfort
BONUS POINT IS OF LITTLE CONSOLATION AS OUT-OF-SORTS CANTERBURY ARE EASILY SWEPT ASIDE AT HOME
catch- and- drive opportunity which didn’t quite go all the way but quick ruck ball saw Hugh Mccormick-huston go over for a try which Best converted.
If that raised hopes, they were quickly squashed as Clifton opened an 18-point gap with two pieces of individual flair.
First it was scrum-half Mitch Spencer, who broke from 45 metres out, followed by Newey’s great run and finish from his own half which skewered Canterbury.
With Brad Barnes adding conversions to every try, the punishment was severe but on the cusp of half-time, Clifton handed the city club a brief lifeline.
Faith in their attacking instincts for once let them down and a dropped pass was snapped up by Kieran Thompson whose try came as a timely boost.
To make it count, however, Canterbury needed to grab the initiative in the second half but their weaknesses let them down and Clifton quickly vanished over the horizon.
Lock Henry Harper broke through a line-out all too easily before prop Alex Giltrow got his side’s fifth try.
Another turnover put pressure back on the home defence and hooker Dave Wheeler charged down Aiden Moss’s kick to put the result out of sight
Only in the last 10 minutes did the city side get the possession and any sort of momentum.
Moss made the run which ushered Guy Hilton over the line and a catch and drive in the closing seconds paved the way for Mccormick-huston to cross for the bonus point. All of it much too late. Canterbury: A.moss, G.hilton, JJ Murray, W.farris, B.howard (repl K.thompson), T.best, D.smart ((repl K.braithwaite), J.green, T.rogers (repl C.townley), S.kenny, T.burns, G.edwards ( repl A.cooper), T.edwards (repl J.stephens), S.rogers, H .MccormickHuston.
A late cry-off by Zoo Shield opponents Shel ford lef t Canterbury Pilgrims with a blank afternoon on Saturday,
After trailing by 13 points at the break, Canterbury 3rds staged a tremendous secondhalf fightback to rob Dover 2nds of their unbeaten home record with a 27-25 win in Invicta 2.
It was the home side who were clinical in the first 40 minutes as they punished a flat city club performance with three tries and a penalty goal. The only response came through an unconverted try from the ever-dangerous Brad Allchurch.
The transformation of a reinvigorated Canterbury was not long in coming after the break when wing Andre Allen intercepted and went the length of the field to score
They soon added a third try, scored by Hugh Larkins, who crashed over from short range following at midfield break by the centres.
Scot t Payne’ s second conversion put his side in the lead for the first time and he quickly added a penalty to move Canterbury further ahead. Allen’s second try, after he collected hooker Callum Watson’s cross field kick, increased the gap to nine points but Dover came back strongly.
A converted try left the game in the balance but committed defence enabled the city side to complete a great come back.
The 4ths’ game at Cranbrook fell victim to the weather but Canterbury 5ths were locked in a titanic struggle against Dover 4ths for much of the game before edging a 31-29 win.
Dover took an early lead before the city side hit back, Julian Maynard being prominent with powerful running and by half-time the score was tied at 17-17. By this time, however, Canterbury had lost a player to the sin bin but their 14 men hung on in the second half until they were restored to full strength.
Once that happened they raced into a 31-17 lead with two converted tries but it was Dover who dominated the latter stages.
A converted try gave them fresh hope and when they grabbed another touchdown the conversion was needed to bring them level.
However, the kick was missed and Canterbury held on to edge a tough encounter.