Canterbury suffered a disappointing National 2 South 19-11 defeat at Southend in freezing conditions on Saturday afternoon.

The home side led through a Rob Kirby penalty before Scott Browne kicked the city club level with a penalty of his own.

However, Southend went back in front when Chris Vaughan ran in a try which Kirby converted.

Browne slotted another penalty for Canterbury but two more successful kicks from Kirby gave the Essex side a 10-point lead at the interval.

Kirby’s fourth penalty of the game strengthened Southend’s position after the restart.

There was a late consolation try for Canterbury courtesy of Mike Melford (pictured) but Browne failed with his conversion attempt.