Canterbury 15 Havant 22

CANTERBURY were left to rue missed chances as they slipped to only their second home league defeat of the season.

After being put to the sword in the opening quarter by Havant, Canterbury hit back strongly but failed to push home their second half advantage leaving coach Danny Vaughan frustrated: "We made far too many errors but it was still a game we should have won," he said.

A missed tackle let in Havant centre Neil McGovern for the first try after five minutes with wing Cam Avery, slipping latching on to fly-half Pucs Ngapaku's clever pop pass for the second.

Two conversions and a simple penalty goal from Ngapaku upped the visitors scoring rate to a point a minute and they extended their lead through No 8 Graham Frith.

A critical point came seconds before half-time as Canterbury pressed hard in the right corner. Havant offended at a lineout, Rowan O'Gorman took the penalty quickly and forced his way over the line.

Seven minutes into the second period Gert De Kock came ghosting into the back line and went over in the right corner and soon after hooker Matt Ford claimed their third touchdown.

Although Wessel Wolmarans could do nothing with his conversion attempts the force was now with Canterbury and they had almost 30 minutes to close out the game.

But the canny visitors had several things going for them. Solid midfield defence and superior ball retention, evident throughout the match, served them admirably while Canterbury's inability to sustain their momentum or use the wind wisely saw the clock tick down in Havant's favour.

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