For a top of the table clash this encounter couldn’t have started much better for the home side when Nathan Wyman struck a monster of a penalty from the halfway line giving Combe a three point lead. A couple of minutes later it got that bit better when captain Nick Cook made a bullocking run down the right to make serious inroads. Fellow back rower Cai Devine was running support and touched down in the corner to make it 8-0. The conversion was missed.

Rather than being shell-shocked by Combe’s fast start, the visitors started to exert territorial pressure opting to kick for field position rather than take the points. That strategy paid dividends when Sam Rogers scored at the back of a line out drive after four previous attempts had been thwarted.

Combe’s indiscipline was a major factor in pinning them in their own half. The home side were down to fourteen players after a high tackle and a further indiscretion on 32 minutes gave Canterbury stand off and former Combe player Frank Reynolds the chance to level the scores at 8-8.

The home team hadn’t visited Canterbury territory since the try after 24 minutes but a Nick Cook break changed that and his try and conversion made it 15-8 at the break.
The visitors kept up the territorial pressure as the second half got underway but the closest Canterbury came was a missed 50 metre penalty. But it was Combe that extended their lead when Matt Harrison exploited a defensive hole after a Ben Charnock charge had fractured the Canterbury defence. Wyman’s conversion extended the lead to 22-8.

Canterbury showed what their backs were capable of with a slick move down the right and Combe saw yellow for the second time when Charnock strayed offside. Down in numbers the home defence were under the cosh and a couple of well constructed phases in the Combe 22 provided the chance for James Stephens to score Canterbury’s second try of the game. Reynolds’ conversion brought the visitors’ to within a score.

The final 10 minutes put Combe’s defence to the test in similar fashion to their match at Henley. Once again they proved up to the challenge and despite conceding another 3 points to Reynolds’ boot they ran out winners 22-18.

So Combe make it seven wins on the bounce consolidating fifth place in the league. Another tough encounter beckons this coming week-end with an away fixture at Dorking who will be hoping to bounce from last weekend’s defeat against Oxford Harlequins