Canterbury were just one kick away from defeat after seeing a healthy 21-point lead slip away in the second half.

A last minute try left Chinnor marksman James Cathcart with a difficult conversion attempt from the touchline but a swirling wind proved too much and the city club’s unbeaten home record remained intact.

The visitors earned full marks and a couple of bonus points for their stirring revival, but Canterbury have serious questions to answer after this near fatal melt down.

They played their way into a comfortable position by half time, grabbed a second try three minutes after the restart and seemed to have the game under control. There was no evidence to suggest they might almost fall apart..

A bright start saw debutant centre David Devlin-Jones make his mark with a good break. It led to a penalty and probing by the forwards was rewarded when Tom Best put in a strong finish to score by the posts,

A rash of Chinnor penalties, conceded under pressure, were regularly punished by Scott Browne who landed three successful kicks in addition to converting the try. A yellow card for centre Matthew Goode didn’t help the visitors who threatened little in attack and found themselves 16 points adrift at the half way mark.

When Devlin-Jones was worked over in the corner soon after the restart Canterbury must have thought the match was done and dusted. Then Chinnor found their bite.

They gave notice with a searing break and only a magnificent cover tackle by Mike Melford and some help from Dave Marshall prevented a try. However, with their big pack starting to make inroads and the backs finding a new lease of life, a first score for the visitors was not long delayed as they created a try for full back Henry Colver

The score gave Chinnor momentum and in a dominant last quarter they stood the game on its head. Canterbury, with the alarm bells ringing, made too many poor decisions, missed a couple of inviting opportunities to increase their lead and Chinnor lock Andrew Smith twice burrowed over from close range to bring his side in sight of victory.

With the balance now firmly in the visitors favour the city club hit more trouble when Tom Sherson was sin binned, leaving them to face a torrid last ten minutes. They survived, as Chinnor’s big men kept coming at them, because the defence bordered on the heroic.

It was not until that final play that they cracked. Wing Tom Gray squeezed in at the corner for his side’s fourth try but Cathcart, who never had an easy kick all afternoon, was wide again and a chastened Canterbury heaved a sigh of relief.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, K.Asiedu, D.Devlin-Jones, T.Best, M.Melford (repl J.Del Val), S.Browne, D.Marshall, J.Green ( repl M.Pinnick), T.Rogers (repl N.Wakefield), S.Goode, T.Sherson, C.Hinkins, S.Rogers (repl J.Darley), P.Kelly, W.Baar