Caught in the home straight was the phrase ringing in Canterbury’s ears as the final kick of this game saw Dings draw level to take the shine off a stirring second half revival.
With eight minutes left on the clock the city club were fourteen points ahead and apparently cruising to a second succesive league victory. Somehow they lost focus and a battling home side found fresh energy to grab two tries.
On reflection, a neutral would say that a draw was probably about right as both teams got themselves into potentially winning positions only to let them slip.
By the end of the first twenty minutes Dings had raced into a 17-point lead thanks to opportunism, crisp back play and Canterbury’s generosity with the penalty count and missed tackles.
Fly half Mark Woodrow’s boot pushed the home side into attacking territory and he converted tries by wing James Oakley, from an interception, full back Ben Bolster and also slotted a simple penalty goal.
From that bleak situation Canterbury slowly managed to build pressure of their own and late in the first half hauled themselves back from the brink.
With the pack edging the battle up front they put a grudging Dings defence under the hammer before making space for wing Mason Rosvall to muscle his way over at the corner. More was needed and more came as telling breaks by George Micans and then Alex Veale led to an important second try just before the break. Ollie Best’s inside pass sent Martyn Beaumont plunging over, Best’s conversion cut the deficit to five points and Canterbury were able to breathe more easily.
They did much more than that in the opening minutes of the second half, rattling Dings with two tries and earning the day’s first bonus point. Lock Royce Cadman’s stole the ball at a ruck and scrum half Dan Smart raced away unnopposed to leave Best an easy kick.
Four minutes later Canterbury made the home side pay for a penalty offence, the catch and drive try from the lineout being a first for young flanker Ryan Ward.
The momentum had swung the city club’s way but they handed Dings a route back as they failed miserably to deal with the restart following Ward’s score. The Bristol club’s backs, where Woodrow pulled the strings expertly, did not waste the opportunity and Oakley’s second try reduced the margin to two points.
Canterbury, however, treated that as a temporary set back and produced a withering spell that seemed to have decided the game.
After home skipper Josh Lloyd and Ward were simultaneously yellow carded, the city club went into overdrive with tries from Ollie Best, after more tellling work at the maul, and a second for Martyn Beaumont created by a precise slide kick by the elder Best, Tom, and converted by brother Ollie.
Game done and dusted? Canterbury obviously thought so, but a couple of wrong decisons, a penalty coneded and they were made to reconsider by a rejuvenated Dings.
Woodrow opened a yawning gap for his side’s fourth try, easily converted, and in the final move of the match their tidy backs stretched the defence to breaking point for Christian Gervais to touch down. It was all down to Woodrow’s conversion and he is not the sort of player to miss – the comeback was complete.
Head Coach Andy Pratt was in philosophical mood despite coming away with only three league points: “When we were seventeen points down I would have take that result” he said.
Canterbury: M.Beaumont, M.Rosvall, A.Moss, A.Veale (repl T.Best), C.Wallace-Sims, O.Best, D.Smart (repl T. Wathey) R.McLeod, S.Rogers, A.Wake-Smith, R.Cadman, B.Massey, G.Micans, R.Ward (repl C.Townley), R.Corr