Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Poor start sets the tone
Giving a side a 21-point start in the first 12 minutes is sure to invite trouble and Canterbury paid the price with a 50-21 National League 2 East defeat at Dorking, writes David Haigh. A hesitant defence had plenty to answer for as the home team plundered three tries in a blistering opening spell and they went on to dominate last Saturday.
Wing Toby Mcrae scored five of their eight tries, but it was the work of the home pack and their powerful back row that opened up opportunities the city side could not match. Canterbury’s best moments came from the back division, with fly-half Frank Reynolds launching dangerous attacks, and they found a response to Dorking’s early burst in which Mcrae, twice, and Fred Dalton made touchdowns, all converted by Henry Anscombe.
Tom Best’s 17th-minute try, converted by Reynolds, was as good as any but hopes of a recovery were dashed when former Canterbury player Will Scholes made an interception to set up a score for Cam Cowell. And when Mcrae, running at full tilt, plucked a cross-kick out of the air and steamed away to complete his hat-trick the gap was widening ominously. A catch-and-drive try for hooker Nathan Morris before half-time, converted by Reynolds, raised Canterbury spirits and with the considerable Dorking slope in their favour after the break, and the memory of their second-half exploits the week before against Worthing, there were grounds for optimism. Those quickly evaporated when the city club were turned over at a scrum on the Dorking line and a try they might have had was instead scored by Mcrae at the other end via a swift counter attack.
The best hope now was to find a losing bonus point and Canterbury managed a third converted score through Frank Morgan. However, in hunting for that face-saving fourth touchdown their execution deserted them and the home side finished as they had started, well in the ascendancy and marking it with late scores from Mcrae and Fraser Mosley. Canterbury, in 10th, travel to Tonbridge Juddians this Saturday (2.30pm).
Canterbury: Waddington, Hilton, Hollidge, Best, Morgan, Reynolds, Cooper (Williams), Young (Herriott), O’donoghue (Morris), Macmillan, Irvine, De Vries (Furneaux), Stephens, Murray, Oliver.