Andy Pratt says Canterbury Rugby Club need to build on their morale-boosting win over Taunton if they are to survive in National 2 South.

The city club produced an improved display to overcome the promotion-challenging Titans 19-14 at Merton Lane on Saturday.

The hosts had to endure a nervy conclusion despite storming into a 19-7 half-time advantage, and head coach Pratt said: “Hopefully that game will give us some confidence, but there is still a lot of hard work to do.

“We are thankful for the win but there is still room for improvement. The bonus point was a missed opportunity and we can’t afford to do that. We had the opportunity to make it a lot easier for ourselves.

“We need to make it tough for whoever we are playing against from now until the end of the season.”

Taunton were replaced in third place by Saturday’s opponents Bishop’s Stortford, with Pratt expecting another tough task.

Centre Charlie Harding and wing Ricky Mackintosh combined for one of the city club scores against Taunton after returning to action in recent weeks.

Pratt added: “It’s great to have players like that come back at this stage of the season.
“Ricky is getting better every week as he regains match fitness, while Charlie is playing very well. They add experience and quality. We’re going to need them.”