Another barren day for Canterbury, their third in a row, highlighted the shortcomings of a side whose basic errors and wasted scoring chances are costing them dearly.

At Dings they had enough opportunities gather bonus points and perhaps something better. In the end the margin of defeat was undeserved, but they came away with nothing.

The city club also had to contend with a classy all round performance from Dings full back Mark Woodrow who accounted for 25 of his side’s points.

A wealth of experience with England Sevens, National League and European rugby was always in evidence as he kicked four conversions, three penalty goals and a drop goal and scored a try.

Canterbury went ahead in the first minute of the match when Dings were caught offside and Scott Browne kicked the penalty goal, but Woodrow then got to work.

By the end of the end of the first quarter he had notched two penalty goals and a long range drop goal to give his side a useful cushion.

When centre Rob Dempsey was worked over for a try, after good work by Dings marauding back row trio,  the conversion became almost a formality.

Canterbury were, however, by no means second best.  They had a clear edge in the set scrums and the home side’s vulnerability to the driving maul gave the city side a route back into the game.

An attacking lineout allowed them to exploit the drive and Sam Rogers was at the bottom of the scoring heap.  Browne, who missed an earlier penalty shot, could not match Woodrow’s accuracy but with a a 16-8 deficit at half time Canterbury had reasons to be hopeful

Four minutes into the new half Dings wing James Oakley leapt above two defenders to claim Steve Plummer’s box kick and steam away for an excellent try but, despite that setback, it was Canterbury who started to dominate territory and apply the pressure.

Trouble was they could not make best use of it with errors and some poor decisions, both individual and collective, fustrating their efforts. Finally, after home fly half  Mitch Burton was sin binned for a blatant trip, they made Dings pay. Tom Best slipped the pass for Martyn Beaumont to score and Browne converted.

Woodrow put another dent in city hopes with his third penalty goal and, with marginal calls going the Bristol side’s way, they conjured up a second try for Dempsey.

Canterbury quickly got over that and a powerful lineout drive again paid dividends with a try for Wim Baars and a bonus point was in their sights.

Instead, an overthrown lineout handed possession to Dings and, despite suspicions about both a forward pass and a knock on, Woodrow grabbed a try in the final minute to give the scoreline an artificial look and Canterbury no comfort.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, K.Asiedu (repl J.Del Val), D. Devlin-Jones, T.Best, A.Moss, S.Browne, C.Tandy (repl D.Marshall), J.Green, N.Wakefield (repl T.Rogers), M.Pinnick (repl S.Goode), J.Darley, C.Hinkins, T.Sherson, S.Rogers (repl B.Massey), W.Baars.