Canterbury climbed away from the foot of National 2 South with a comprehensive home win over fellow strugglers Southend Saxons on Saturday.

The city club’s fourth win of the season - all coming from their six games at Merton Lane - lifted them up to 12th in the table and within striking three points of ninth-placed Redruth.

The game began positively for Canterbury with Aiden Moss touching-down after five minutes following good work from fly-half Ollie Best.

A penalty from Brad Burr reduced the gap almost immediately but the hosts extended their advantage after wing Moss burst forward before kicking ahead to give Best time and space to score before slotting his second conversion to make it 14-3 after just 15 minutes.

The visitors were reduced to 14 after a spell of pressure ended with prop Aston Bevans-Royston penalised, with Best kicking 17-3 ahead, though he missed the chance of a 20-3 lead before the break.

Southend did pull back a try shortly before the hour, when fullback Mark Billings collected a probing kick forward to score, with Burr’s conversion making it 17-10, however Canterbury struck twice in the final 20 minutes to seal the win.

Mason Rosvall’s break led to a fine move from Alex Veale cutting inside and beating three men to touch down, with Best adding an easy conversion.

With time running out the Saxons lost scrum-half Rees Powell to the bin with his opposite number Grant Kay nipping through a gap to secure a useful bonus point score.