Canterbury……14
Old E'mians ….37
OLD Elthamians kicked off their season with a win over Canterbury at the Marine Travel Ground.
The visitors took a very early lead, but Canterbury made it competitive for the best part of half an hour before Old Ethamians really got the scoreboard ticking and pulled clear.
Fred Hosking charged down a Canterbury kick from a maul just outside the 22 to earn a penalty in the very first minute of the match which was converted by Ted Landray.
Landray dissected the posts again a couple of minutes later before winger George Perkins outstripped his opposite number and ran the length of the pitch to score the opening try of the match in a superb effort.
Canterbury kept themselves in it with an impressive drive from a lineout, dotted down by James Stephens and converted by Thomas Best.
But the visitors soon found their rhythm and were awarded a penalty try for a collapsed scrum before captain Hamish Barton crashed over to give his side a commanding lead at half time.
Perkins added his second of the afternoon ten minutes into the second half before George Eastwell was shown a yellow card to reduce the visitors to 14 men and test Elthamian nerves.
Canterbury took immediate advantage as the pack forced their way over allowing Jamie Dever to score but it was only a consolation as the visitors were awarded another penalty try late on to make the scoreline comprehensive.
TEAMS
CANTERBURY: Moss, Mackintosh, Sterling, Best, Grimes, Craven, Braithwaite, Young, King, Kenny, Cadman, Scholes, Micans, Stapleton, Stephens
Replacements: Smart, Rogers, Dever, Morgan, Cooper
OLD ETHAMIANS: M'Boge, Hotston, Dockery, Eastwell, Perkins, Landray, Morgan, Concu, Saunders, Hay, Hosking, Parker, Kovacic, Barton, King
Replacements: North, Morris, Elbrow, Bryant, Claxton
REFEREE: James Clarke
ATTENDANCE: 423
Star man
George Perkins – Old Elthamians
