Barnes has been a land of lost opportunity for Canterbury in recent seasons and, once again, they missed out. Leading at half time and deep into the second half, they were beaten by a converted try five minutes from the end.

 Full marks to the home side for grasping that late reprieve, but Canterbury’s loss of concentration was complicit in their own downfall. A botched restart and a penalty gave Barnes the territory they needed for the catch-and-drive try which brought the scores level. Their fly half, who had not had a great day with the boot, this time found the target to snatch the win.

The city side started well, with hooker Lucas Eule finishing a driving maul and Lewis Hollidge converting. The first half then became a cagey affair, with Barnes, although prone to conceding penalties, hitting back with a try from their bustling centre and a second, which was converted, from the fly half’s neat break and offload.

By the break, however, the city side had restored their lead, with Eule scoring a second try via an effective catch and drive, which Hollidge converted, before a 38th-minute penalty goal made it 17-12.

They extended that lead early in the second half after Barnes collected a yellow card and were punished by a piercing run from Kurt Heatherley and clever sidesteps by Presley Farrance for a try under the posts, converted by Hollidge.

Despite being twelve points to the good, however, Canterbury found building a decisive lead difficult. They produced a fourth try through Max McCormack, but that was countered by two from Barnes, all three scores the result of heavy-duty forward effort.

A Hollidge penalty goal going into the final ten minutes left the city side defending a five-point advantage but, frustratingly, that proved beyond them and they had to settle for two bonus points to hold on to sixth place in National 2 East.

Canterbury: K. Heatherley, M. Campbell, H. Sloan, W. Waddington, G. Jones, L. Hollidge, P. Farrance, D. Huntley, L. Eule, O. Frostick, J. De Vries, J. Stephens, G. Trapp, R. Thomas, M. McCormack.

Replacements: C. Macmillan, S. Rogers, G. Roberts, R. Burden, A. Ashley-Jones.

Images courtesy of Phillipa Hilton