Canterbury suffered last-kick agony as a stirring comeback at National 2 South leaders Hartpury College fell short in a 39-36 defeat.

The city club bossed the second half and levelled the scores in an 11-try thriller with six minutes remaining, only to concede a last-second penalty which left them having to settle for two bonus points.

Three tries in the space of six minutes saw the Gloucester-based hosts go in 24-14 ahead at the break.

James Gibbons had put College ahead early-on but the city club were infront before the half-hour with Martyn Beaumont exploiting the space left by a Hartpury sin-binning and Tom Best chipping ahead and charging through for the second score.

However the wheels came off before the break with two of the three quick tries looking preventable.

The second-half saw a fine revival however and with the hosts again temporarily down to 14, Beaumont added his second score after a good break from Guy Hilton.

Hartpury replied with a try from Reuben Haile after Canterbury coughed-up possession but Kwaku Asiedu burst over and a Best penalty reduced the deficit to just two points.

A Steve Leonard gave Harpury a seven-point cushion but Hilton stretched over the line, and Best’s fourth conversion levelled the scores after 74 minutes.

However with time running out the visitors conceded a scrum penalty infront of their own posts allowing Billy Burns a simple kick to win it and take them six points clear at the top, while Canterbury slip to fifth, 12 points behind.