CANTERBURY'S men were humbled 10-2 by Slazenger English Men's Premier Division relegation rivals Havant on Saturday and their fight against the drop looks like becoming an uphill struggle.

The thrashing was the city side's 10th defeat in 11 games and left them six points adrift of third-bottom Bowdon and safety - which effectively became seven due to Canterbury's shocking goal difference of minus 27, 17 worse than the Manchester side.

Havant had themselves been third bottom before Canterbury travelled to Hampshire for a match rescheduled because of the Euro Indoors championships.

Canterbury found themselves 3-0 down inside 22 minutes but skipper Matt Harper did pull one back in the 31st minute.

They were 6-1 behind after 42 minutes and despite Simon Hare's reply in the 53rd minute, they conceded another four in an 11 minutes to seal a disappointing afternoon.