Canterbury tackle Henley on Saturday Picture: Chris Davey

Canterbury were beaten 31-5 by National 2 South title-chasing Henley at Merton Lane on Saturday.

The visitors scored four first-half tries to take control and although the city club improved after the break, they were always struggling to stay with the second-placed visitors.

Henley’s reward for constant pressure in the opening 40 minutes was to force a string of errors from the hosts, with one missed tackle leading to the opening try as wing Johan Holmes evaded Aiden Moss before dashing to the line, with Will Robinson converting.

It was 12-0 soon after when No.8 Robbie Stapley touched down from an attacking lineout and Luke Carter pounced on a loose ball at a scrum to cross, with Robinson kicking the conversion to make it 19-0.

Canterbury’s woes were compounded as skipper Pete Kelly and Alex Veale were lost to injury and it was not long before Henley secured a bonus point with Dave Clements touching down.

Fijian Nicky Little came off the bench for Canterbury at the break but was sin-binned for a high tackle within seven minutes and after holding out a man down for nine minutes, Canterbury conceded a fifth try when Holmes added his second score, with the conversion making it 31-0.

The city club’s sole success came when Wim Baars broke and combined with Moss down the right with Scott Browne getting the final touch out wide, as they remained eighth with six games remaining.