WORTHING RAIDERS 38 CANTERBURY 45
by David Haigh
Pack power won this game for a Canterbury side that came from fifteen points down to claim a bonus point victory which lifts them into the top half of the National 2 East table. The catch and drive proved to be a lethal weapon, producing four of their five tries with hooker Nathan Morris claiming a hat trick for the second time this season. Fly half Frank Reynolds was anther major contributor, his twenty points made up of four conversions and four penalty goals, adequate compensation for the charged down kick that handed Raiders an early lead through Joe Knight’s converted try. The first half set the tone, a contest between Canterbury’s powerful scrummagers and a pacy Worthing back division in which full back Tom Bowen was a constant danger. Thanks to his two tries, plus conversions and a penalty goal from Tom Derrick the home side led by four points at the end of a hotly contested half. Jamie Stephens countered the early Worthing try through the inevitable catch and drive, Reynolds slotted two penalty goals and three minutes before the break Morris touched down as the Worthing forwards splintered. In the first twenty minutes of the second half the Raiders took charge and inflicted what could have been terminal damage to Canterbury’s hopes. Reynolds landed an early penalty goal but when the home side were handed possession from avoidable errors the backs struck through converted tries from wing Peter Drummond and the elusive Bowen. Going into the final quarter the scoreboard read 23-38. The way back was pointed by centre Garry Jones, the pick of the city side’s threequarter line, who ran in from half way, after ball was turned over, and the forwards began to assert their strengths in clinical fashion. Overwhelmed at the set scrums, Worthing leaked the penalties which gave Canterbury the territory they needed to complete the comeback. Good lineout ball and organised drives proved irresistible with Morris providing the finishing touches which recaptured the lead. Reynolds converted both tries and had the easiest of penalty shots with the last kick of the match.
Canterbury; A.Davies, F.Morgan, G.Jones, T.Best, A.Moss, F.Reynolds, B.Cooper, P.Holland, N.Morris D.Herriott, D.Irvine, J.De Vries, J.Stephens, C.Murray, T.Oliver. Replacements, E.O.Donoghue, C.Macmillan, H.Furneaux, A.Orris, L.Hollidge
