Foxes hold on but must improve their discipline
Canterbury……..32pts Old Albanians..27pts
CANTERBURY edged to a fourth win on the bounce, despite almost giving the game away due to their constant ill discipline.
Coach Matt Corker admitted that his side had made life hard for themselves as they gave away too many silly penalties which so very nearly cost them this 32-27 victory over Old Albanians.
Canterbury started the stronger of the two sides with their first attack winning a penalty, which Frank Reynolds drilled against a post.
The penalty miss resulted in a ten-point swing as the OAs won a penalty of their own and launched an attack in the 22.
The try came from a snipe from Hugo Watson, who broke through from the 22 to score.
Sam Jones, had an imperious day off the tee adding the extras for an early seven-point lead.
Canterbury, however, fired back soon after with a try for Eoin O'Donoghue which followed a break from Tyler Oliver, the Canterbury back row combining well.
A penalty for Old Albanians' Sam Jones kept the visitors in front be-fore the trusty boot of Reynolds again levelled the sides with another three from the tee.
Two quick-fire scores, the first for Tom Best and the second for Cameron Murray both converted by Reynolds saw Canterbury leading the match 24-10 at half-time.
The Foxes scored quickly after the break with Frank Morgan bagging a try following a strong kick return.
However, Old Albanians, who were clearly helped by Canterbury's indiscipline throughout the match, would score a driving maul try through Kemp Price to close the gap, before a try for Ben Alexander then narrowed the gap to just five points.
A punishment for Canterbury's poor discipline.
Reynolds scored another penalty, adding three more points to take the gap up to eight but in the closing stages another Old Albanians penalty, this time for backchat meant Canterbury's lead was down to just five points again.
Old Albanians' surge was brought to an end due to the referee's whistle as they made progress just inside the Canterbury half.
The game finished with the Foxes escaping with five points and Old Albanians bagging a losing bonus point on the road.
Victorious coach Matt Corker accepted his side had to learn their lessons: “11 penalties in the second-half put us under real pressure.
“I am proud of the way the boys dug in to close out what was a closefought game and maintain momentum in the direction that we want to be going in.”
