Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Purple patch at stake
Two in-form clubs will lock horns when Canterbury travel to Bury St Edmunds.
Matt Corker’s men are sixth in National League 2 East, having survived a late weekend scare to beat Old Albanians 32-27 to extend their winning streak to four games.
The city club are five points behind Bury. They themselves had been on a five-match winning run, which included victories over frontrunners Dorking (23-22) and second-placed Esher (22-17), before last Saturday’s 34-34 draw at Westcombe Park.
Ahead of a potentially mouthwatering affair this Saturday, Canterbury coach Corker said: “It’s really exciting.
“If you look at the last five games, I think us and Bury will be in the best form. They have beaten first and second, and they drew last weekend, so, they’re also on a good run. “They’re also one place above us so we know that, when we get on the bus, we’ll be going for a real test.
“For us to find out where we are - and to see if we can be in that higher section of the table we know that we need to be able to perform against teams like them.
“Our away record has been really strong. But it’s definitely going to be tested on Saturday that’s something we are really looking forward to.”
Two yellow cards against Old Albanians left Canterbury clinging on at the death at Merton Lane - but Corker was thrilled with the character shown by his players in front of their home fans.
He said: “The thing for me that I’m extremely proud of, even though the penalties put pressure on us, some of the defensive sets go well beyond skill. It was all emotion.
“At that point of the game, they were just showing what it meant to get a win in front of our home fans. We had enjoyed two really good wins on the road but coming back and doing it at The Marine Travel Ground was really important for us. “We feel very well-supported by our community and we want to pay them back with the way we play.
“Even though we put ourselves under pressure, I think, in those last 10 minutes, that’s where we really showed how much it means to be back at home.”
When Frank Morgan's try three minutes into the second half opened up a 19-point lead, Canterbury were cruising, with Eoin O’donoghue, Cam Murray and Tom Best also among those to score.
But two yellow cards - for O’donoghue and Tyler Oliver left Corker’s troops, who also had a heavy penalty count against them, digging in. But dig in they did.
He said: “It’s definitely not us. I think it might have been a bit of a breakdown in relationship with this particular referee. “We gave away 11 penalties in the second half and that’s been our average penalty count for entire games pretty much all season!
“So, it’s not a feature of our performances usually at all. I’ve not seen any red flags from that perspective.
“When you’re having slightly challenging days with the man in the middle, you need to adjust and that’s probably the learning for me.”
Things now certainly appear to be looking up for a Canterbury club which have struggled to string together a consistent run of results and build much
momentum since the Covid pandemic.
“It’s probably important for me to say why it was a challenging few years,” explained Corker, who has been working with director of rugby Taff Gwilliam since his summer appointment.
“We lost quite a few senior players during Covid and then again, the summer after that season, we lost another group of senior players. In those two seasons, I think we lost eight or nine senior players - well over half of your starting line-up. That’s been one of the challenges.
“One of the most fantastic
things at the end of last season was that we only had one player leave. That was Billy Young who went on to Jersey (and now plays for Cornish Pirates). “Obviously, it was unfortunate to see what happened to them but it’s great that the only person who left went on to better things. That’s something we’re really proud of.
“We have added some talent. Taff coming in as director of rugby has brought some players across and I have managed to recruit a few, as well. “Just a few extra guys have really added to what we have got.”
Now, the hard work put in at
the club is starting to pay dividends on the field and has given them the opportunity to start pushing towards the rightend of National League 2 East. Corker said: “The work the boys have done has really laid some great foundations. That, for me, is what has given us this opportunity.
“To be looking up the table and to be able to challenge ourselves against the best in the league, that’s exactly where we want to be and that’s what the club deserves.
“As a playing group, we want to make sure we get the club where it should be in the rugby landscape.”