In a rerun of last week’s game against Westcombe Park (although more one-sided this time) Havant played very poorly for 60 minutes against a Canterbury side who exploited weak defence ‘through the middle’, allied to a lack of control in the tighter exchanges. In the last twenty minutes Havant were able to fight back against a visibly ‘blowing’ Canterbury team - partly due to Havant’s increased physicality - and secured a losing try bonus.

Havant showed 5 changes, some positional, from the side that finished strongly against Westcombe Park after a chastening start. I have been asked not to give injury updates as this fuels the opposition bank of information on Havant, but you can assume that we have some injuries. Actually, more than ‘some’! In the front row Cam Boa took over from Sean Shepherd, who moved to the replacement’s bench, with Ash Chirima starting at prop in place of Nick Stoffel. Freddie Ferson came in to the ‘row (as Ben Kay calls it on TNT) for his first Havant start, replacing Will Saunders. In the backs, Wes Dugan started at scrum-half with Ben Griffin moved to the wing to allow Tom Gwyther to play at full-back. Canterbury showed one change to the side that lost to Dorking last Saturday with the splendidly named Presley Farrance coming in at full-back and last week’s full-back, Luke Talbot, moving to outside centre. Like Havant, Canterbury have their own player availability struggles with eleven players out injured.

Canterbury kicked off on an autumnal, overcast day and immediately secured possession, spending several minutes at or around the Havant ’22. A break from the Canterbury open-side Ryley Thomas got Canterbury over the line several phases later but with the ball ‘held-up’ Havant dropped out from their own line. Canterbury continued to attack but conceded a penalty for coming in at the side of the ruck. Reuben Knight kicked for touch. A half-break on the left on 5’ from Joel Knight, was not exploited through a lack of support and eventually a Havant knock-on ceded possession.

On 7’ Canterbury found space, and their number 8, Tyler Oliver got through a big gap and scored to the left of the posts, with the conversion successfully made by fly-half Frank Reynolds.

From the kick-off Ben Griffin, who had a good game, made a strong break to the Canterbury 10 metre line and then repeated it a few minutes later on 13’, with a subsequent kick-through from Joel Knight being touched down ‘in goal’ by the defending side for a dropout. Havant were competitive at this stage, with possession. A good movement from Havant soon followed with an excellent break and apparent touchdown from Reuben Knight leading the Havant supporters to think he had scored. The referee disallowed it and Havant’s own video evidence (unofficial) suggested he hadn’t. The Havant team did not appear to protest too hard. Havant came straight back with a good Dylan Read break taking the side close to the 5m line. The apparent try-scoring pass from him was deliberately knocked down by the Canterbury full-back Presley Farrance, who saw ‘yellow’ for his misdemeanor on 15’. No penalty try was given.

On 18’ it was still 7-0 to Canterbury, and Havant were picking and driving hard at the Canterbury side in an attempt to take advantage of the extra man. Havant’s ball presentation was however, slow at the ruck. A Havant penalty kick took the side to the 5m line and a thrown-in but a knock-on turned possession over and got Canterbury out of immediate danger.

The match was lost here with Canterbury scoring 3 tries while down to 14 men.

The subsequent lineout on the right near the 22’ was also lost by Havant on their own throw. Canterbury worked the ball left and then through the middle, helped by two missed tackles which allowed Canterbury the space to score through open-side Ryley Thomas on 19’. Frank Reynolds again converted.

Canterbury should have been defending Havant attacks but they played their best rugby, keeping the ball through good support running. Havant had also lost 3 out of the last 4 lineouts. Poor tackling from the try kick-off allowed the Canterbury wing, Henry Furneaux to cut through the Havant defence with the score coming from Tyler Oliver (his second). The try was again converted by Reynolds to make it 21-0 on 23’. Ash Chirima was replaced by Nick Stoffel.

Havant at this point had given up tackling. A minute later the two Canterbury second rows danced their way up the field with Charlie McGovern scoring close to the posts on the left, converted by Reynolds once more to make it 28-0. From the kick-off, Furneaux broke several tackles again. Further poor tackling allowed Canterbury to score a few minutes later close to the posts, through Furneaux himself on 30’. Reynolds converted to make it 35-0.

Havant finally had some ball and made their way close to the Canterbury 22’ with a Reuben Knight cross-kick just evading Ben Griffin’s grasp. Havant had been playing with advantage. Two lineouts later a forward ‘rumble’ allowed Archie Cleeve to touch down on the attacking side’s right on 35’, converted by Joel Knight. Havant continued to attack but a promising move close to the 22’ was stalled by a penalty and then further ground was conceded due to backchat. A minute or two later the whistle went for half-time with Havant 35-7 down.

Canterbury spent a couple of minutes in or close to the Havant ‘22’ but turned the ball over and a chip through took Havant into the Canterbury ‘22’. The attacking side got the ball to Will Perry at the end of a promising move with the ball appearing to be knocked from his hand but given as a knock-on. After 10 minutes of the second-half Havant seemed to have closed up the defensive gaps and were competitive, with no second-half scores at this point.

The Canterbury hooker, Eoin O’Donoghue, a very good player, had made several testing breaks and this time took his side from the halfway line through to Havant’s ‘22’, aided by more weak tackling. The ball eventually found its way to Charlie McGovern who scored his second under the posts. The try was again converted to make it 42-7 on 50’. Sean Shepherd replaced Cam Boa.

Havant were however more in the game now and a lovely break from Dylan Read on 54’, taking the ball from a midfield scrum to inside the Canterbury ‘22’, was followed by a terrific pass over his head when the crowd, including your reporter, expected him to pass the other way. Replacement Scott Thompson was the recipient (who had come on for Jacob Ashworth) and he scored with Jacob Knight – not Joel - converting. The score now 42-14. Joel, with a tight leg, was replaced by Chris Buckett.

After Havant scored, Canterbury enjoyed most of the possession and pressure and scored on the left on 60’ through replacement Lewis Young, again converted, to make it 49-19. With no chance of victory, Havant needed to score two tries to secure a bonus point. From the kickoff, Sean Shepherd, unseen by a distracted Canterbury burgled a terrific high ball, allowing Havant time and possession in the Canterbury ‘22’. Three penalty offences, several 5m lineouts and abundant ball made a try inevitable but a conceded Havant penalty gave Canterbury respite.

Perhaps late, Canterbury’s James Stephens was yellow carded for repeated technical infringements as Havant worked their way back to the Canterbury ‘22’. A penalty, lead to a lineout, won at the back by Dylan Read, which set up a rolling maul, leading to an inevitable try by Sean Shepherd (on ’68). Although thankfully unseen by the referee, there seemed to be hand/ball separation before he touched down - perhaps making up for the penalty try that wasn’t given earlier. The conversion was missed.

A couple of minutes later Havant, eager to get back down the other end and secure a try bonus, let Canterbury’s Furneaux in for his second score on the right, their 8th try, all converted by fly-half Frank Reynolds to make it 56-19 on 73’. In the closing minutes Havant applied considerable pressure. A penalty was kicked to the Canterbury 5m line and Sean Shepherd emerged with the ball to dot down, for his second try, on ’77. Jacob Knight converted to make it 56-26 and the referee’s whistle went a couple of minutes later with Havant searching for another score. (Doug Miller)

Head coach Will Knight's thoughts after the game.
"Today was very tough and we have to be honest that some of what we did was not good enough. It has been too easy to break the defensive line in the last two games and this has hurt us. We are struggling with a lot of injuries to key players but that will likely be the same for all squads at some point. What is important for us is that we keep learning and work on those areas that need to improve. What I do know is that the group are hurting and that there will be a reaction."