Championship celebrations after second-half surge

Canterbury 3rds were crowned Kent 3 Rural champions after a hard-fought 32-10 victory over Cranbrook 2nds on Saturday.

It wasn’t until the second half that Canterbury were able to pull away from Cranbrook, who had beaten them earlier in the season, but the city side got the job done. Canterbury took an early lead with full-back Sam Merrell scoring, but poor discipline allowed Cranbrook to score a converted try and a penalty to take them ahead.

The city side, however, made the most of any possession

space as he scored under the posts before a third try came as Ben Waite made it 15-10 to Canterbury at half-time. After the restart, the pace and handling of the city side gave them plenty of opportunities and it began to pay dividends. Slick passing put Mark Stone in at the corner, and a sharp tap-and-go saw Alex Williams push them 15 points ahead. Cranbrook still threatened but the game was put to bed when a break by Jake Upward led to Dan Gill powering over.

A total of 450 boxes and bags of clothing and supplies for Ukrainian refugees have been delivered thanks to Canterbury and the club’s principal sponsor Marine Travel.

Led by Marine Travel’s managing director David Thompson, a party set off on the three-day journey to distribution centres in Poland where many refugees have fled - from the club’s Merton Lane ground last week.

The appeal for donations was so overwhelming Marine Travel staff and a 14-strong volunteer group took three hours to sort and box clothes, blankets, sanitary products and medical supplies. Money has also poured in and, across two campaigns by Canterbury’s partners BRS Education and Marine Travel, £28,500 has so far been raised. Mr Thompson says he is now determined to organise a second aid convoy.

Canterbury Rugby Club have worked alongside sponsors Marine Travel to provide support to Ukrainian refugees