Pratt keen to arrest slide

Rugby ‘We desperately want to finish on a high but it’s not going to be easy’

Head of rugby Andy Pratt admits what looked like being a good season for Canterbury could end up being a big disappointment.

The city club were flirting with the National 2 South promotion race in early December on the back of a six-match winning streak, including a memorable victory at Redruth.

However, since then they have lost nine of their 13 games – six of those defeats coming in their past seven games – and could yet finish in the bottom six.

After a Canterbury free Easter weekend, head to Bury St Edmunds on Saturday (3pm) for their penultimate fixture, seeking to end their slide into the bottom half.

Pratt said: “We desperately want to finish on a high but it’s not going to be easy.

“We do have quite remarkable problems with injuies, though I don’t want that to be an excuse for losing in our last game against Barnes. I put out a team which I trust but the performance was unacceptable.

“It was even more disappointing as I thought we had turned the corner in our win at Exmouth.”

Pratt claimed he had mixed emotions about whether he wanted the season to finish now, adding: “We probably need it over now to give guys a rest and recharge but at the same time, we want to finish well.

“We want to get ourselves back on track on Saturday, when we’ll be blooding some youngsters and then finish strong at home to Cinderford (April 29).

“It’s been a remarkable season in many ways. For a long time it looked like being a good season but when we look back it could turn into a disappointing one.”