Plucky CS Stags fought bravely against the unbeaten league leaders Canterbury at Duke's Meadows last Saturday. At half time the Stags led 15-8 and - with no sign of their being overawed - there was a definite whiff of possible upset in the air. It was not to be as the visitors found their composure eventually. Still, only once before this season, had Canterbury had to contemplate a defict at half time and it was all of 64 minutes before they finally got their noses in front on this occasion. In the end it was a relatively comfortable victory for them but CS Stags had thrown the kitchen sink at it and were certainly not disgraced in this first ever encounter between the two sides.

CS started brightly and were first on the board with a Scott Hadden penalty after five minutes - soon cancelled out, however, by a similar score from the visitors just a few minutes later. Not long after, Canterbury blew a gilt-edged chance when the ball was spilled by them just as they drove for the line. But even that could be put down to the forcefulnesss of the last ditch CS challenge on the ball carrier.

CS were sharp themselves on the ball and recycling well and it was no more than their due when the next score after 22 minutes went to them with second row Cameron Reed - who had a mighty game from start to finish - eventually being the man left with open space in front of him and a straight forward touch-down. Scott Hadden converted.

At this point in the game the home side was looking more than a match for their high flying opponents with stout and efficient defence complemented by brightness and ingenuity in attack and rewarded by parity if not better in both territory and possession. It was unfortunate that a CS attacking penalty to touch, which should have yielded an attacking line-out opportunity, should instead have proved to be the launch pad for a speedy counter-attack by Canterbury who showed just how dangerous they could be if given space, Juan Del Val eventually finishing off the lenghth of the pitch move in the corner to close the gap to 10-8.

CS, however, improved on this lead with a cleverly worked try scored by winger Ross Yiend on the stroke of half-time and as CS elected to stay out on what had started as a bright and sunny ,if cold afternoon , Canterbury elected to head for the sheds with a lot no doubt to think about. It was a test that they passed, even if they nearly attracted referee Stephen Davies - who had an impressive game in charge's - ire for not emerging until he had had to go and summons them back! Whatever stern words may have been said by their coach to his team they clearly did the trick as Canterbury started with far more precision and dynamism whereas CS started at last to feel the full force of what was evidently the sort of pack that could give the week before's Ampthill an arm wrestle.

It took Canterbury just three minutes to draw level after a concerted surge by their forwards, followed by quick width on the ball, provided a text book try for impressive wing, Ricky Mackintosh whose second visit to Duke's Meadows this will have been. He was last here in the Dover side that lost the Level 6 promotion play-off game to CS back in April 2010 .

As the CS scrum and - for the first time in quite a while - line-out creaked so Canterbury's confidence grew. Indeed that line-out had worked remarkably well until then given that the tail had been such a well used option. Still, it was not until the final quarter that Canterbury actually went ahead but a sorry final quarter for CS it, by and large was as, running out of steam and with little possession now, even first-up tackles started to be missed whereas earlier the robust tackling would have pleased my old school coach : " There's no such thing as defence : it's just attacking without the ball!" And so that lead was grabbed back with a scrum against the head, number eight pick-up , kick and long chase and finger tip touch down by Canterbury full back, Beaumont, also I believe a member of that Dover side! A penalty and two more tries followed quickly - although the last word did go to CS with a break-out from defence, a kick and huge chase by Ross Yiend whose perseverence was rewarded with not one but two cruel bounces of the ball from a defence perspective, enabling Ross at last to flop over after his lung-bursting effort.

So in the end it had been a hard day at the office but coach Stefan Smith was by no means dismayed: "We had a great first forty, competing well in all of the key facets of the game. However after half time we gave the ball away too easily, missed tackles and couldn't apply any consistent pressure. We had a great opportunity but were outplayed by a very competent Canterbury team. We will review key moments in the game and address them prior to our last game of 2011 against Staines next Saturday. "

CS scorers :

Tries : Reed
Yiend (2)

Pen: Hadden

Con: Hadden