by David Haigh

An eight-try blast from Canterbury put the warmth back into a chilly February day as they cruised to a comfortable National 2 South victory, 52-22 over Barnstaple on Saturday.

After edging into a nine-point lead by half-time they raised the temperature in the second half to dismantle an injury-ravaged Barnstaple side that has struggled to make an impression all season.

The visitors were solid in defence in the early stages but after falling behind to an Aaron Cooper try from a driving maul they briefly took the lead through Jake Murphy's penalty goal and a smartly-worked touch down from Johnny Carter, to which Murphy added the goal points.

Canterbury's ambition to keep the ball alive was frequently stalled by a lack of control but they were building pressure and on the half-hour Danny Herriott sent fellow front rower Billy Young in under the posts.

Kyan Braithwaite landed his second conversion into the wind and late in the half added a try as the city side exploited space on the right.

The breeze may have eased after the break but Canterbury still had it in their sails and two tries in the space of four minutes took them into clear water.

Frankie Morgan hit fly-half Tom Best's flat pass at pace to stroll over for the bonus point score before Best produced an individual piece of magic to register his side's fifth try.

Barnstaple, however, were never short of spirit and when strong pressure earned a yellow card for Aaron Cooper they took advantage with a try for hooker Gav Mitchell, converted by Murphy.

It was the last quarter of the game that fully exposed their frailties as a confident city side hit them with three more tries. Jesse De Vries, his first for the club, Tristan King from quick thinking at the front of a lineout and Will McColl's bulldozing effort finished them off.

Four more Braithwaite conversions took the scoreboard past the fifty mark while Barnstaple were left with only Carter's last minute try as consolation.

Canterbury: D Corcoran, S Sterling, F Morgan, K Braithwaite, M Halliday (G Hilton), T Best, T Williams (B Cooper), A Cooper (W McColl), B Young (W Waddington), D Herriott, R Cadman, S Churchyard (J De Vries), J Stephens, T King, T Oliver.