Canterbury head coach Danny Vaughan admitted that watching his side’s 95-7 demolition at Cambridge in the EDF Energy National Trophy third round was one of the most painful experiences of his career.

Saturday’s tie against a cash-rich club lying third in National League 2 was always going to be tough for Canterbury, even if they had fielded a full-strength team, but with Vaughan deciding to rest several players who were carrying injuries, it turned into mission impossible.

He said: “We knew we were going to be up against it because Cambridge are a massive club with a player budget probably 10 times bigger than ours and they fielded their full first XV into the bargain.

“But I didn’t enjoy seeing them put almost 100 points on us. It was painful to watch and something that has never happened before in my coaching career.”

The priority for Vaughan, however, is to make sure that he has as many players available as possible for this Saturday’s National League 3 South game at Barking – and in that respect he appears to be successful.

He added: “Tom Corbett had to come off with a knock on the ankle but he should okay for this weekend and I took Gert de Kock and Michael Melford off early in the second half as a precaution.”

The one-sided nature of the game also meant that Vaughan didn’t have to introduce replacement Matt Pinnick, who had needed eight stitches in a cut the previous weekend.

With skipper Chris Hinkins and a number of other regular 1st teamers likely to be fit again, Vaughan will hope that the side can quickly erase the memory of the Cambridge defeat by beating a Barking side who are two places above them in eighth place.

Canterbury were given a walkover by Park House in last Sunday’s Kent Cup tie and will now meet Whitstable or Aylesford Bulls in the next round.