No lack of incentive for men

Men’s skipper Craig Boyne admits Canterbury will be looking for revenge when they host Reading in the National League Premier Division on Saturday (6pm).

The city side were beaten 4-1 at Reading in October on a day when Boyne says luck was in short supply for the visitors.

He said: “When we played them last time nothing really went our way.

“We thought we had the rub on them but then each time they went down the other end they’d score which sort of summed up how the first half of the season went for us.

“It was a tough defeat to take and there’s definitely a feeling that this week is payback time.”

Canterbury go into the game, next bottom – with just four points from 11 games – but a win would move them to within five points of Reading, who are two places higher.

The postponement due to the weather of last weekend’s scheduled home game with Surbiton gave the Canterbury squad a chance to work on one or two different things and Boyne says the plan is to be more defensively solid in the games that remain. He says the return of Wei Adams will help in that respect and at the same time allow the side’s flair players to better express themselves.

Boyne added: “We’ve been conceding far too easily so we’re aiming to tighten up in defence, throw an extra player in midfield and condense the pitch to stop the opposition getting into our D.

“Having Wei to slot in means players like Tom Bean and James Oates can have a licence to attack without having to look back.”

Weekend results: 2nds lost 3-2 away to Reading 2nds, Pilgrims lost 3-1 away to Kings Alleyns 1sts, Griffins drew 4-4 away to Old Bordenians 4ths.