By David Haigh

Canterbury lead the early National League 2 East table with maximum points after a 27-14 Kent derby win over Sevenoaks.

Victory was set up in a dominant first half, with the city side 19 points clear. However they then had to dig in as Sevenoaks dominated possession and won the second-half try count by two to one.

That said, the result never looked seriously in doubt as Canterbury's defence passed most of the tests and a breakout 10 minutes from the end brought a bonus-point try which sealed the result.

Canterbury seized the initiative early in the game and scrum-half Presley Farrance rewarded his forwards’ pressure by sniping over for the opening try after only 12 minutes. With Oaks on the back foot the situation was ripe for exploitation, but Canterbury's biggest obstacle was their own lack of focus.

Too often they lost the ball in contact and an over-anxious backline lacked fluency. A yellow card for home skipper Scott Sedgwick on the half hour, though, opened the way for a second try as wing Garry Jones joined a powerful rolling maul to make the touchdown.

It wasn't until the final minute of the half that another score came and again it was the pack that did the spadework before Chad Thomas plunged over for his first try for the club. Frank Reynolds slotted his second conversion but there was a feeling that the team had left points out there.

That became plainer as Sevenoaks began to get a strong foothold in the game but were never clinical enough to make best use of their possession. One the few clean line breaks of the afternoon was then made by city captain Jamie Stephens, but the try went begging for want of a final pass and Canterbury had to settle for a Reynolds penalty goal.

After that it was mostly a matter of containment. Sedgwick registered the home side's first try, converted by George Montgomery after 60 minutes, but even though Kurt Heatherley was sin-binned Canterbury found attacking territory and an overhead pass saw Sam Rogers canter over unopposed.

The closing minutes belonged to Oaks but their only success was Sedgwick's second converted try, from a driving maul, when the game was beyond their reach.

Canterbury are at home to Worthing on Saturday.

Canterbury: Young, Campbell, Moss, Morgan, Jones, Reynolds, Farrance, Macmillan, O'Donoghue, Herriott, Irvine, Stephens, Thomas, Furneaux, Oliver. Replacements: Frostick, Rogers, Morris, Heatherley, Williams,