Canterbury 44 Southend 17

CANTERBURY produced a superb performance as they inflicted the heaviest defeat of the season on the National 3 South leagers Southend at Merton Lane.

A magnificent display from fly-half Gert De Kock and fine goal-kicking by James Reilly made the visitors look ordinary as Canterbury racked up 27 unanswered points in the first half alone.

Five tries - from Pat Sykes, Andy Pratt, De Kock (two) and Reilly - set the platform for victory and rewarded a display that highlighted everything good about the city club's strengths and attitudes.

Canterbury: W.Wolmarans, A.Pratt, J.Reilly, P.Sykes (repl B.Walpole), M.Melford, G.De Kock, N.Woodbridge (repl (A.Knuckey), J.Forsyth, M.Ford (repl S.Goode), M.Pinnick, R.Keir, A.Bernthal (repl R.Hussey), C.Hinkins, B.Smith, R.O'Gorman.

* See the Kentish Gazette (Thursday, March 1) for a full report.