Head coach Matt Corker has detailed what he thinks has been the secret behind Canterbury Rugby Club’s winning block.

They made it three victories from three National League 2 East fixtures in December, backing up a narrow win at title-chasing Dorking with last weekend’s 35-22 bonus-point success over fourth-bottom Sevenoaks at Merton Lane.

It leaves the city club fourth at the end of the calendar year, five points behind second-placed Dorking, having played one league fixture more than them.

Corker said: “I definitely agree form does go out the window in local derbies.

“It’s a big, emotional, event for both teams. With it being the Christmas game as well, it had that extra level of excitement.

“The challenge for good teams is picking up points week in, week out, and we have proven we can do that.

“That’s why we are where we are in the table because of the consistency of our performances. They’re the habits we want to be creating as a group.

“You don’t have these consistent results through big moments. It’s actually by doing lots of little things really well all the time.

"That’s what is underpinning our success.”

Canterbury offered up five tries against Kent rivals Sevenoaks despite the tricky weather conditions.

They came from hooker Eoin O’Donoghue (2), sponsors’ man-of-the-match Frank Morgan, winger Alfie Orris and No.8 Tyler Oliver.

“I’m really happy,” Corker reflected. “The thing I’m most proud of from our first half of the season is that I feel like we have got better every week and we have learnt some really valuable lessons.

“They’re going to put us into a good place in the new year.

“I’m very conscious that we’re in a really good position, we’re playing some good rugby and we’re in a good place in the table, but it’s very important that we don’t get too ahead of ourselves.

“We have got a lot of good teams still to play.

“For us, we want to go the full distance, all the way until the end of the season, playing this good rugby and getting these results.

"It’s great going into two weeks off on the back of such a great block.

“That’s our first unbeaten block of the season, with maximum points, and we beat second in the table in that block, who had been on a 10-game winning streak.

“So, we’re really happy with where we are and really excited to get stuck back into it in the new year after a rest.”

But despite Canterbury’s backline not being at their best, their domination at scrums and line-outs always meant they were in control.

Corker noted: “We have been getting lots of compliments about our backline.

“By their own admission, they didn’t have the best of first halves on Saturday. But the set-piece, scrum and line-out really shut Sevenoaks down.

“Sevenoaks really struggled to win any line-out ball where we weren’t far off 100 per cent.

“So, there was a really big performance from the lads there.”

With the first team doing well, the Pilgrims also top Kent 1 while the Canons - the 3rds - are also at the Kent 4 summit. They’ve won 20 out of 21 games in 2024.

“Canterbury is a fantastic club,” said Corker.

“There’s so many people - from sponsors, volunteers, our chairman, Giles Hilton, and so many other people - they put so much time into it to make it such a success and make it such a special place to watch and play.

“The fruits of those labours really are showing, with the Pilgrims top of their league, the fact the first team is getting better, the Colts are thriving, and our women’s and girls’ section is just continuing to grow and grow.

“We’re in a really great place.”