Head coach Matt Corker described Canterbury Rugby Club’s defeat at Barnes as a match like none he had seen before.

Trailing 40-0 at half-time to the title-chasing National League 2 East team and down to 14 players after Aaron Cooper had been yellow-carded, a strong second-half fightback saw the city club come away with a losing point, as it ended 45-35 to the hosts last weekend.

Corker said: “It’s definitely not one I’ve seen before!

“There’s loads of learning there for us. Wherever we play, we want to win, obviously, and we didn’t, which I’m disappointed about.

"Going in at half-time 40-0 down, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Canterbury side do that before.

“You will get punished against good teams and, early on, we conceded twice.

“But where we put ourselves into hot water is we didn’t wrestle back momentum. We had opportunities to do that. Rather than it being 14-0 and playing ourselves back in, we conceded more tries before half-time.

“We, obviously, had a few words. We acknowledged we had come to play and we just weren’t doing that.

"But then, some of our play in the second half was really excellent.

“I’m not sure many teams will have scored 35 points against them in a half - not just this season - but in recent seasons.”

It could have got a lot worse, as well, only for the Canterbury players to at least restore some pride - despite a third successive league defeat - giving the response Corker and coach Alex Veale were after.

“At half-time, we had a choice,” admitted Corker.

“We could have come out, done the same again and been looking at a cricket score. Or the players could show what they’re about and why they’re proud to play for the club.

“Myself and Vealey fully believe in this group. That’s why we’re frustrated when we don’t perform.

“But they definitely showed what they’re capable of in that second half.

“It’s a very valuable point. Even on bad days, we don’t tend to leave many games empty-handed.

"That’s something we have got a lot better at.”

Among the Canterbury tries were hooker Eoin O’Donoghue, tighthead prop Olly Frostick, scrum-half Presley Farrance, Dutch international back-rower Jesse De Vries and loose-head prop Cooper.

Corker said: “The players this season have really developed an understanding of how we’re at our most threatening.

“When we stick at it for long enough, that’s when the points come. In the second half on Saturday, we looked very physical and moved the ball a lot quicker.

“We have got threats across the team, even with a couple of injuries.

“That’s something we will continue to look to have because we don’t want to be one-dimensional or to rely on one area.”

Canterbury, still fourth, six points ahead of fifth-placed Westcombe Park, will return to Merton Lane against Old Albanian this weekend.

They have tasted victory in six of their last seven matches.

“Whether it’s trying to wrestle back momentum in a game or a run of games, it’s the same mindset for me,” said Corker.

“We can take confidence from our second-half performance on Saturday.

“We come back home now against Old Albanian. They’re really finding form but there’s no way we want to lose four in a row.

“There’s only six games left. The teams below us, they’re just adrift but, if we don’t start picking up results, that gap will evaporate.

“Returning home, it’s a really exciting opportunity to ensure we get to where we want to.”