Canterbury were left to rue ill-discipline and poor kicking on Saturday as they slumped to defeat on their return to National 2 South.

Despite out-scoring Bournemouth by three tries to two, a horribly high penalty count saw the city club leave Dorset with nothing to show for their efforts.

"It was not so much the result but the performance that was disappointing," said Canterbury head coach Andy Pratt. "We gave them far too many penalties when we were under no pressure."

Four penalties and a try gave Bournemouth a 19-0 lead at the interval. While Canterbury looked stubborn in defence, they surrendered possession so cheaply it was almost impossible to build any attacking momentum.

However, they struck twice in the space of 10 minutes after half-time. When a Canterbury catch-and-drive was halted illegally, the referee awarded a penalty try which Scott Browne converted. Then Aiden Moss chased a kick down the right wing and Alex Veale scored the try which brought the scores back to 19-12.

Canterbury started leaking penalties again, though. Bournemouth moved into a 25-12 lead before Peter Kelly finished off a driving maul to score for the visitors.

The game was finally put beyond Canterbury’s reach when a blindside break allowed Sam Hardcastle to score Bournemouth’s second try. Ben Stevenson, their excellent fly-half, added the extras.

Canterbury are at home to Barking this weekend.