Canterbury 52 North Walsham 38: National League 2 East match report

By David Haigh

Canterbury's National League 2 East season ended as it began, but they needed a spectacular second-half performance for their 52-38 win over North Walsham.

The Vikings went into this match requiring a bonus point to guarantee their survival, and they achieved it with four tries in the first 23 minutes as their skill and determination left Canterbury looking for an escape hatch.

An attack masterminded by fly-half Matt Hodgson and a pack effective at close quarters saw tries from Oliver Coates, Ethan Holmwood, Hodgson and Ryan Oakes. The city side's only reply was an early score from Jesse De Vries after a powerful run through the defence.

When wing Shaun Blyth piled on more pressure with a fifth touchdown and Hodgson nailed his fourth conversion the scoreboard read 33-5 and Canterbury faced a long and daunting road back.

They took steps along it in the last ten minutes of the half, winning penalties, building pressure and finding two converted tries. Tyler Oliver crossed after hard work by the pack and Tom Best forced his way over by the posts. Conversions from Frank Reynolds raised hopes further.

Best's 50/22 kick minutes into the second half helped to turn those hopes into reality. From it hooker Sam Rogers, on his 250th appearance for the club, completed a catch-and-drive score which Reynolds converted and a revitalised Canterbury took control. By the hour mark they had wiped out the Vikings advantage and gone ahead through converted tries from prop Billy Young and a second by Oliver.

The only blip on the march to victory came via a good Walsham score from wing James Riley which brought them back to within two points. It made no difference to confident Canterbury as full-back Charlie Kingsman joined a