A poor second half cost Canterbury dear as they were beaten 37-25 at Richmond in National League 3 South

The defeat was their fifth of the season and posed serious questions about their ability to survive at National level as they leaked six tries, three of them at a critical period of the match.

The teams had gone into the break at 15-15, Canterbury's tries coming from Benn Smith after Ben Thomas had made a half break and Danny Willcox after Carlton Littlechild had run to Dave Marshall's kick on the right. Thomas converted the second try and also kicked a penalty to keep the scores level until the second half when Richmond captilaised on some slack defending to pull clear.

Thomas's second penalty kept Canterbury interested but it wasn't until the final 10 minutes they rediscovered their first half urgency. Concerted pressure saw Thomas cross for a try wide out and then add a conversion.

A fourth try would have given Canterbury two bonus points but in the last play of the game, Kieron Lewitt's astute chip kick sent James Birnage toward the corner flag but Chris Hinkins was unable to scoop up his inside flip pass with the line open.

To add to Canterbury's woes, props Mark Livesey and Matt Pinnick both picked up leg injuries