A last minute penalty goal snatched victory for Cornish All Blacks and left Canterbury still with work to do if they are to be playing National 2 South rugby next season.

Defeats for the other clubs involved in the relegation battle, plus the losing bonus point the city club took from the game, limited the damage to their prospects but they still need one point from their two remaining matches to be sure of survival.

More frustrating for Canterbury is the knowledge that, despite a patchy and often disjointed performance, they missed a golden opportunity to put the relegation issue to bed.

Twenty minutes into the second half two tries from full back Martyn Beaumont had taken them to an 18-7 lead which should have been a springboard for victory. But the city side’s shortcomings allowed Cornish back into contention with fatal results.

The defence that has served them well in recent games sprung damaging leaks, try scoring chances were wasted and the visitors greater accuracy saw the lead whittled away.

Perhaps it was the pressure of the occasion that got to Canterbury but their performance was pock marked with handling errors, lack of a stable platform at both scrum and lineout and a general lack of control.

Despite that, they reached half time only four points in arrears and had the benefits of wind and slope to look forward to. Tom Best’s penalty goal gave them the lead after ten minutes but Cornish, following a series of penalties and punishing scrums, won a penalty try converted by Kieron Lewitt.

The All Blacks might have been further ahead if the normally reliable Lewitt had not missed two eminently kickable penalty goals but at the end of scrappy 40 minutes the city side were well in the hunt.

They quickly applied second half pressure and although basic errors still dogged their progress Best’s second penalty goal was the precursor of better things.

All Blacks were in Canterbury territory when Beaumont got a boot to a loose ball, chased it down over 60 metres and scored at the corner. Best topped it up with a fine conversion and the outstanding try of the afternoon soon followed.

Beaumont made a trademark outside break and combined beautifully with the ever dangerous Ricky Mackintosh before making the touchdown which put his side within sight of safety. Then it all went wrong.

Cornish responded immediately with Lewitt timing his run well before lively fly half Billy Searle sprinted through a lax defence for a converted try. When Lewitt added a 66th minute penalty the margin was down to one point.

There was still time and opportunity for the city side but three times they missed out. A botched lineout wasted one glorious position and a forward pass ruled out a Mason Rosvall try after Best’s clever run. Worst of all, a clear overlap on the right flank died when the final pass found fresh air rather than Mackintosh.

Those failures came to haunt them when Cornish mounted a final attack. The defence got in a tangle and Lewitt’s penalty goal piled the relegation pressures back on Canterbury’s shoulders.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, R.Mackintosh, C.Harding, A.Veale, M.Rosvall, T.Best, D.Smart, R.McLeod, N.Wakefield (repl S.Rogers), A.Wake-Smith, (repl S.Goode), R.Cadman, T.Burns (repl C.Hinkins), T.Sherson, R.Ward (repl N.Wakefield), A.Cathcart.