In atrocious weather of driving wind and continuous rain, Canterbury came away without even the losing bonus point their performance merited in a game in which they were competitive throughout. 

Two first half catch and drive tries expertly executed from five metre line outs saw hooker Tristan King and flanker Will Scholes make the touchdowns. Those scores, plus a Dan Smart conversion and penalty goal guided the city men to a slender 15 – 14 lead at the break.

Chinnor had two tries of their own to celebrate, from Chris Ryan and Danny Southworth with Laurence May converting both, and with the wind and rain at their backs in the second half their powerful pack began to exert control.

For Canterbury it was backs to the wall stuff but they were unable to stifle the driving maul which brought a try for Nick Selway, converted by May, to put the home side back in the lead.

The city side came right back into the game in the final quarter when Ricky Mackintosh ran a lovely line to score their third try, which Dan Smart just failed to concert.  

Frustratingly it was not quite enough as Chinnor took control of the late stages and Will Ryan’s try, again converted by May, left Canterbury empty handed and with concerns going into next week’s game against table toppers Richmond.

Injuries to front row men Jamie Dever and Charlie Connolly, plus the red card shown in the final minutes to skipper Sean Stapleton together with Chinnor’s Ben Thomas,  presents more problems.

Canterbury;: W.Waddigton, R.Mackintosh, D.Corcoran, A..Meads (repl J.J.Murray),  C.Grimes, M.Craven, D.Smart, A.Cooper (repl C.Connolly), T.King, J.Dever (repl G.Syminton),  R.Cadman (rel R.Meeson), M.Corker, W.Scholes, S.Stapleton, G.Micans.(repl T,Oliver).

Report by Andy Rogers.

Pictures supplied by Phillipa Hilton.