Canterbury paid a heavy price for poor discipline as they slipped to another disappointing defeat in this tight and often attritional battle.

The city side were hit by yellow cards in both halves and it cost them the tries which handed Chinnor their first win of the season.

Three Canterbury players were ordered to the sin bin for technical offences and a team that handicaps itself by playing 30 minutes of the game with fourteen men is asking for trouble, and they got it.

The first card was handed to flanker Ryan Ward as Canterbury fought to survive a sustained battering in the opening 20 minutes. Chinnor were already ahead through a Will Millet penalty goal when Ward got his marching orders. A series of round the corner drives at the rucks quickly brought a try for lock Darren Oliver, which Millet converted,

There were further alarms for the defence but Canterbury somehow held on and eased their way back into the game.
When they arrived at half time only seven points in arrears, a penalty goal from Charlie Kingsman having opened the account, the odds were marginally in their favour.

With the benefit of slope and breeze after the break a four-game losing streak might well have been ended. Four minutes into the half Kingsman’s second penalty goal boosted those expectations, but they were soon to be dashed.

Canterbury’s habit of leaking penalties gave the Chinnor forwards a platform and five minutes of pressure ended with Royce Cadman heading for the sin bin for a ruck offence.

Chinnor left it to their backs to do the damage where former Exeter Chiefs centre Junior Fataliofa provided the finishing burst for the second try.

Four minutes later Canterbury were in more trouble and temporarily down to thirteen men. Martyn Beaumont went for the intercept, was judged perhaps harshly, to have deliberately knocked on and joined Cadman on the sidelines.

When the captain returned there were still sixteen minutes left to rescue the situation. He had watched Millet – an easy chance – and Kingsman from long range miss penalty shots but Beaumont then put his side on the front foot with one of the game’s very few line breaks.

A penalty award brought a catch and drive opportunity that was resisted but the city side kept pumping forward and prop Jim Green burrowed over for a try.

The late minutes were all about Canterbury pressure which ended in frustration. Failure to find gaps or generate quick ball, a fault which continues to handicap them, allied to fierce Chinnor defence added up to a single losing bonus point. .

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, A.Moss, C.Horey (repl G.Hilton), D.Winchester (repl T.Best), M.Rosvall, C.Kingsman, D.Smart, C.Townley (repl J.Green), N.Wakefield, (repl S.Rogers), R.Cadman, T.Burns, T.Edwards, R.Ward (repl M.Barnes), M.Cantwell