For the second week in a row Canterbury let a substantial lead slip from their grasp as a late try saw a resurgent Henley hang on to their unbeaten record.

It was a bitter blow for a city side who rattled the league leaders with a first half burst of 26 points but whose own indiscipline ultimately cost them the match.

Two yellow cards, either side of half time, reduced Canterbury to fourteen players and the Hawks made them pay by scoring eighteen points during the vital 20 minutes they held the advantage.

The first card, with his side under pressure, was handed to flanker Ryan Ward for a technical infringement.  Ed Yarnton added the subsequent penalty goal to a Matt Payne catch and drive try minutes earlier which gave Hawks a toe hold in a game which, up that point, had seen them mostly outplayed.

Six minutes into the second half that toe hold began to look like a substantial footprint when the visitors sweet handling created an overlap try for wing Xavier Andre, converted by Yarnton.

The score sliced Canterbury’s lead to eleven points but with Ward back on the field they still had reasons to be confident.  That, however, was dented immediately as scrum half Dan Smart headed for the sin bin for punching and the city side were back in trouble. The penalty and a catch and drive try for Hawks skipper Dave Clements made more inroads but at the restart Henley got themselves offside and Tom Best’s penalty goal won Canterbury  breathing space and their only points of the half.

To finish the job they needed to control posession but Henley, having seen how effectively they had used it in the first half, made sure they were kept on  limited rations.

In the opening half hour the city side had swept all before them, starting with Tom Best running a perfect angle on to Alex Veale’s pass to score under the posts. That made up for an earlier penalty miss and it was followed on 17 minutes by a fine individual effort from wing Mason Rosvall.

A clearance by fly half Ollie Best bounced just inside the Canterbury half where the chasing Rosvall stole the ball from under the nose of his opposite number to race 50 metres to the corner.

The next two scores came from the energtic Ward.  Aiden Moss nearly crossed the line after Martyn Beaumont’s break but there had been a late tackle.  It handed Canterbury a penalty and a catch and rive position they quickly exploited..

Their strength at the driving maul and Ward’s pace brought the bonus point as the young flanker broke off down the blindside and plunged in at the corner. With three Best conversions Canterbury now had a solid platform for victory.

Then came those decisive moments when the discipline failed and Henley were allowed to take command.  A seond overlap score for Andre left the result on a knife’s edge but even with Smart back in the home ranks the visitors momentum never slackened as their pack held the initiative.

They took charge of the ball, attacked relentlessly and replacement Tom Hall got their fifth and final try to bury all Canterbury’s high hopes.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, A.Moss, T.Best, A.Veale (repl C.Horey), M.Rosvall, O.Best (repl G.Hilton), D.Smart, R.McLeod (repl S.Kenny), S.Rogers (repl N.Wakefield), A.Wake-Smith (repl R.McLeod), R Cadman, B.Massey (repl R.Corr), T.Sherson, R.Ward, G.Micans