Blues do it at last!

Eleven month run of misery finally ends as Blues beat Canterbury at Monks Lane

Newbury 24 Canterbury 19

NEWBURY BLUES 11-month search for a win finally ended as they broke their 23-game losing streak at Monks Lane.

Canterbury came into the game on the back of seven straight defeats and if the game could hardly be said to have hnit the heights, that mattered little to Blues ad they rid themselves of that heavy burden of poor results.

It all looked like following the same old pattern when Canterbury went ahead through flanker Pete Kelly after only 80 seconds, but in a first half full of errors and fumbles, nothing else could separate the teams and Newbury got their noses in front ahen Ben West intecepted and Andy Gale ran home a try that Dan Thorne converted.

Canterbury regained the lead on the stroke of half-time when winger Andy Pratt scored after earlier missing a simple chance, Will Hilton's conversion giving the visitors a five point lead.

But Hilton lost the battle of the third choice fly halves after the break as Newbury's Thorne kept things simple and gave his pack the chance to take control, while Hilton looked increasingly maroooned as his side lost all shape and two players to the sin-bin.

Tom Fidler drove over before West charged down a Hilton kick to go in and score. And when number eight Jo Kava broke off a scrum to claim try number four, Blues were in sight of their quest and not even Matt Pinnick's late try could deny them a deserved end to 11 months of woe.