Canterbury Men’s 1s v Loughborough Students - Lost 2 - 6
Canterbury slumped to their second successive 6-2 defeat and suffered the ignominy of representing the foot of the table as Bowdon collected their first points of the year.
Following Leigh Barratt’s effort, only a single score separated the sides with 15 minutes remaining, but the Students punished their guests errors at this most crucial of stages to romp home in emphatic style.
An even first half which saw few chances and a consolidated defensive effort from Canterbury came alive in the 30th minute when Loughborough old boy Rob Pryce produced a stunning goal with his first shot of the season. A half-time lead seemed inevitable for the visitors, but with seconds of the first period remaining they naively conceded a penalty corner which Richard Smith converted to take his side level.
The second half saw the match assume a completely different complexion to that of the first.Unable to find any fluency in their play, Canterbury were pegged back by the Students who grasped control. They deservedly went ahead in the 45th minute and then doubled their lead in the 52nd, with goals from James Osborn and Robert Smith.
Canterbury halved their deficit when with the ‘keeper out of the frame Barratt rolled the ball in to an open net, but then fell apart in the final 15 minutes allowing Chris Gregg, Richard Smith and Dave Beckett to contribute to Loughborough’s tally.
Canterbury paid the price for an inability to compete for the full period and now sit at the foot of the table, still searching for their first points after 6 games.
The Kent side now have a week off before taking on Bowdon, placed directly above them in the league, in a fortnight’s time at Polo Farm.
Squad: Barratt, Bassano-Harper, Cowling, Dowsing, Dunn, Farrer, Hare S, Harper, Keir, Kimber, Pedersen, Pryce C, Pryce R, Richford, Stevens, Wild.