A try in the final minute of an enthralling match saw Canterbury snatch victory to crown a fine second half come back and claim maximum points.

The battling city side overturned a sixteen point deficit to extend their winning run to four games and move up to tenth position in the National 2 South table.

They gave themselves plenty of headaches along the way against a highly competitive Bury outfit but sheer persistence paid off when wing Harry Sayers made the vital score deep in stoppage time. In that final push Canterbury worked their way upfield through a dozen phases before they prised open the defence to remind the visitors that the game is never over ‘till its over.

The city side’s flying start, which saw them twelve points ahead in the first six minutes, promised more than it delivered. Two early tries both involved Martyn Beaumont who scored the first and made the second.   The fly half attachéd himself to a superbly driven maul to steal the glory from the pack and then knifed through a gap before sending lock Royce Cadman galloping to the posts and Tom Best converted.

Any thoughts of easy pickings were then dismissed by an attack minded Bury who moved the ball smartly, brought their big men on to the ball at pace and were helped by poor tackling.

They scored a gem of a try when scrum half Pierre Peres made the break and skipper Josh Walker finished off fine support work. They had two more in the bag by half time.

Weak Canterbury defence was instrumental in setting up Matt Hema and an accurate cross kick by Scott Lyle ended with the Kiwi wing grabbing a second.

Between those scores another driving maul brought the third city touchdown from prop Jim Green, but Lyle’s superior goal kicking made the four point difference on the scoreboard. Against the slope and breeze the second half looked an uphill task for Canterbury and when Bury hit them with two early tries the hill became more a mountain.

A scrum ball lost against the head opened the way for a Will Affleck try and three minute later Bury worked a huge overlap for flanker Dave Micklethwaite.  Lyle’s fifth conversion put his side 33-17 ahead and they were set to close out the game.

Perhaps a more defensive mindset would have scotched Canterbury’s recovery but Bury did not recognise it and, ultimately, it proved fatal, particularly when a spilled pass later ruined a glorious chance of another score.  After the Micklethwaite try the city hit back immediately through Mason Rosvall and when Rosvall’s run in the 65th minute sent Aiden Moss in for a fifth, which Beaumont converted, the game was suddenly on a knife’s edge.

As the minutes ticked away Canterbury seemed to be letting matters drift but rediscovered their composure at the critical moment.  Expertly, they kept the ball and their chances alive and, with Bury attracting a yellow card, confounded the odds and grabbed the spoils.

Canterbury: A.Moss, H.Sayers, C.Horey, T.Best (repl W.Farris), M.Rosvall,M.Beaumont, D.Smart (repl T.Best), J.Green, (repl C.Townley), T.Rogers (repl N.Wakefield), A.Wake-Smith, T.Burns, R.Cadman (repl G.Micans), M.Cantwell, S.Nixon (repl T.Rogers), G.Micans (repl S.Nixon).