A last-gasp try from Martyn Beaumont snatched Canterbury a third consecutive win to take them within seven points of the top of National 2 South on Saturday.

The foundations for the 21-18 win over Dings Crusaders at Merton Lane came with a 15-minute spell in the second half which saw the Bristol side camped on the city club line, only to be thwarted by fine defence which restricted them to a solitary penalty.

Canterbury took the lead after just three minutes with an overlap paving the way for Aiden Moss to score with Guy Hilton adding the extras.

However, a drop and a botched lineout allowed Dings to take the lead with a Mark Woodrow penalty and a well-worked try by Oliver Reyland, converted by Woodrow.

Jim Green put the hosts back in front with a try converted by Hilton to leave Canterbury 14-10 ahead after 20 minutes but a scuffle saw three Dings men and two city club forwards sin-binned before an injury to centre Charlie Harding and a sudden downpour causing the players to leave the field for five minutes.

When they returned, 12-man Dings scored through Steve Plummer to take a half-time lead and after the turnaround, they laid siege to the city club line.

The dogged defence kept the visitors to a Mitch Burton penalty and trailing 18-14, the city club produced a spell of pressure of their own, pinning the Bristolians back until lock Joe Joyce received his second yellow card of the day and Canterbury exploited the advantage with Beaumont finding a gap to snatch the winning score, with Tom Best slotting the conversion to seal the win.