A third consecutive victory, their second away from home, puts Canterbury among the early pace setters in National 2 South and they will be pleased with their positive start to the season.

However, better performances than this will be needed if they are to keep up those winning ways. League newcomers Redingensians were allowed too much leeway by an often lethargic Canterbury who failed to generate any sustained momentum and piled pressure on themselves with basic errors and poor decision making.

In the end, however, they did enough to justify a four point haul and what is currently the league’s meanest defence showed its mettle by denying the home side a try.

Redingensians took an early lead through a Guy Spalding penalty goal but their lively handling and support work was not matched by finishing power and Canterbury hung in.

It was twenty minutes before the city launched a decent offensive and Sean Nixon made the most of scrum half Ollie Best’s quick blindside probe with the opening try try.

The rest of the half descended into a catalogue of errors on both sides, a yellow card for Canterbury prop Ivan Miljak and Redingensians missing out on their opportunities.

They paid for their profligacy when, against the run of play, Tom Best was handed a penalty chance on the stroke of half time and he made no mistake

The game’s defining moments came early in the second half when Canterbury scored two tries in a six minute spell. Wing Mason Rosvall got them both to counter Spalding’s second penalty goal and the city side gradually, if imperfectly, began to dictate.

Rosvall’s opener came from first phase lineout possession and a powerful break through a porous mid-field which left Ollie Best a simple conversion.

Canterbury prop Jim Green’s scrum power earned the penalty which set up the position for a second strike. Scrum half Best, making the most of his first appearance of the season, created space with a sharp tap and go penalty for the big Kiwi to brush of defenders at the left corner.

The target was now a bonus point try but it did not happen, despite Redingensians collecting two sin binnings and breaks by Max Cantwell and excellent young debutant wing Harry Sayers.

The execution and shape was not there but, in their defence, Canterbury demonstrated that they can find ways to win despite being clearly off the pace.

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