Canterbury……..39pts
Westcombe P…22pts
CANTERBURY’S preparations paid off as they saw off Westcombe Park, according to coach Matt Corker.
He said: “We were really focused on delivering a strong performance at home, and we feel the scoreline reflected that.”
There was not much to separate the two sides early on, neither wanting to give the oth er the upper hand.
Poor discipline gave Westcombe Park an early lead through the boot of Toby Wallace. A great break from Canterbury, getting around the corner and making some lovely offloads, put Westcombe under pressure, leading them to give away a penalty under the posts, allowing Frank Reynolds to bring it to 3-3.
Westcombe Park’s poor discipline led to a yellow card for Kyan Braithwaite and some creative play from Canterbury resulted in Taylor Oliver going over to take it to 10-3.
Minutes later, another great break from Canterbury forced Westcombe into a tackle-off, leading to another yellow card. It was all Canterbury now and sustained pressure on a 13-man Westcombe Park allowed a gap for Frank Reynolds to go in unchallenged under the posts, successfully converting to take it to 17-3.
Poor breakdown work led to Westcombe Park turning the ball over, with Wallace running 60 meters to score.
Canterbury responded with a good kick-off and again another penalty from Westcombe gave Reynolds the opportunity to take it to 20-10.
A deliberate knockdown from Presley Farrance cost Canterbury a yellow card for their scrum half.
Canterbury defended their line well to win a penalty, only to give away a penalty of their own at the line, allowing Westcombe Park another opportunity at the maul, which they capitalized on, taking the score to 2017 at half-time in favour of Canterbury.
Three Reynolds penalties after the break extended the lead before great break from Canterbury from their own 22 – thanks to great hands from tight-head prop Danny Herriot – opened Westcombe Park up. Some excellent offloads allowed Frank Morgan to go over in the corner, converted by Reynolds to take it to 33-17.
Then, with a great exit from Canterbury, Taylor Oliver earned a penalty at the breakdown, allowing Reynolds the chance to add another three points, taking it to 36-17.
The constant pressure from Canterbury in Westcombe Park’s half led to another penalty, with Reynolds adding another three points, making it 39-17 before Westcombe Park had the final say when they adde a final score through No.8 Nick Cook.
TEAMS
CANTERBURY: Forstwick, O’Donoghue, Herriott, Irvine, Stephens, Thomas, Mackenzie, Oliver,Farrance,Reynolds, Moss, Waddington, Morgan, Jones, Heatherley Replacements: Morris,Huntley, Kenny, Williams, Young WESTCOMBE PARK: : Roofe, Harris, Kenny, Smith, Fombo, McPherson, Hudson, Cook, Davies, Harrison, Webster, Braithwaithe, Jowett, Burman, Wallace Replacements: Wagstaff, Timmer-man, Lofinmakin-Dutta, Wyman, Fryatt
REFEREE: Phil Russell ATTENDANCE: 617
Star player
Tyler Oliver – Canterbury
