Canterbury…40pts Dings …18pts
SAM Goatley got the better of his brother Barney as Canterbury beat Dings Crusaders at a deluged Marine Travel Ground.
Harvey Young inspired Canterbury to victory with a fine display, scoring 13 points that included a brilliant solo try and no shortage of creative play.
The rain made for difficult playing conditions for both teams but Canterbury took advantage of their opponent's mistakes to secure the win and rack up a big score.
Canterbury coach Andy Pratt was pleased with the win despite the weather but admitted his team were guilty of giving opportunities away.
“It was not really the conditions that suit our style but I thought we stuck to it really well,” commented Pratt.
“There were a couple of silly errors in the first half which they kicked well and controlled the ball when they had it, but I thought we took it up a notch in the second half.”
Canterbury's early pressure paid off as they worked the ball wide, leaving the opportunity for Aaron Cooper to break through the Dings defence and score before Young converted.
Dings responded and were awarded a penalty which Ben Bolster scored to cut the deficit.
Dings' Josh Holcombe then went over to turn the game on its head after a clever lineout routine caught Canterbury napping.
Canterbury were not behind for long as a converted try put them back in front and in charge of the match.
Dan Smart's kick out wide was gratefully plucked out of the air by full-back Ollie Best, who touched down.
Canterbury finished the half strongly and scored another converted try to push themselves 21-8 ahead, as JJ Murray stepped through the Dings defence and Sam Goatley was on hand to touch down after the ball broke loose.
Just before half-time, Bolster scored his second penalty of the game to make it 21-11 at the break.
Canterbury were fast out of the traps and Young profited from a loose ball to run half the length of the field to go over in the corner before converting his own try.
Midway through the second half Dings responded with a converted try to make it 28-18, as Ashley Challenger scored after the ball was worked out wide to enable the prop to score.
With ten minutes left Canterbury all but secured victory after some clever kicking from Smart allowed Murray to run and finish in the corner – Young failed to convert, missing his first kick of the day.
Aiden Moss added gloss to the victory as Canterbury reached the 40-point mark, as Smart again kicked over the Dings defence to find the substitute in space to cement victory for the home team – with Best this time providing the conversion.
