Canterbury’s attempted comeback at newly-relegated Worthing fell-short on Saturday as they suffered their second away defeat of the National 2 South season.

The hosts’ kicking game created problems for the city club from the off and a box kick from scrum half Callum Waters led to the opening score as skipper Rob Smith powered over from a ruck.

Guy Hilton replied with a penalty, but Worthing added their second converted try of the afternoon through prop Dan Sargent following another box kick ahead after 12 minutes.

The Canterbury defence was under pressure but they got back into the game with an interception by winger Connor Wallace-Sims, who dashed the length of the field to score.

On the half-hour the visitors registered another long-range try after a superb break down the right from Ollie Best, who crossed having exchanged passes with Aiden Moss to leave the score 17-13.

The lead was extended to 22-13 at the break as a missed tackle let wing Alex Nielsen through to score and the hosts continued to boss the game in the first 20 minutes of the second half.

Canterbury were penned back in their own 22 and unable to clear their lines, with the hosts extending their lead through a try from Waters following a line-out on 50 minutes.

Waters grabbed his second after a close-range scrum just after the hour and the city club were in a 36-13 hole, however they did fight back in the final 15 minutes and did secure a bonus point.

The hosts saw a man sin-binned after a succession of penalties and Canterbury immediately made space for Moss to score out wide, and a bulldozing run from George Micans paved the way for Grant Kay to set-up centre Mason Rosvall for a fourth try, with Best’s conversion making it an 11-point game.

Canterbury threatened to find a second bonus point in the dying seconds after an Alex Veale kick ahead, though the ball narrowly evaded Wallace-Sims and the visitors had to be satisfied with a single point as they slipped to seventh.