PHEW!! Another last minute win at Old Dunstonians

OLD DUNSTONIANS 1stXV 24 FOLKESTONE 1stXV 26
London 3SE 7th November 2015 Report from Alan Schofield
With very similar playing records, and being level with each other in the middle of the league table this was a bit of a ‘four-pointer’ at the leafy ground in Beckenham as Folkestone made the trip to south London. Old Duns. had conceded 46 points in their previous fixture to near neighbours Bromley whereas Folkestone put 30 points up against Anchorians – BUT showing a very leaky defence.
Fortunately The Stones injury list had been reduced and it was good to see Chris Petley on the field after what seemed a bad shoulder injury in the last match. Also Adam Tolman was welcomed back after knee injury and a special mention must go to Mike Gardner – back after a year, nursing a long knee injury.
The Stones earned their victory in the last minute of the game and their every player, coach and supporter cheered and clapped a tremendous team effort.
There was some consternation that the match would not be played when the referee, Mr James Streams, was very unhappy about the very faint lines on the pitch, and especially those near to the trees which were obscured by fallen leaves – but after discussions he allowed play to start. ( Visiting supporters, after the final whistle tried to arrange a whip round for Old D’s to buy some paint!)
Old D’s kicked off with wind and slope in their favour – and the early tactic was to use the high, long kick to establish territory in the visitors’ 22 metre area. It worked – and the hesitant tackling, noticeable in the previous week was evident so within 4 minutes Folkestone had conceded a converted try being unable to effectively stop the straight running three-quarters. 7-0.
The recovery was helped when O’D’s suffered a yellow card for an armless charge tackle and Seyhan Fell kicked a long straight penalty after 9 minutes. 7-3. But O’D’s were soon back within the Folkestone 22 metre. zone and attacking. John Morton managed to slip a tackle and break 30 metres up field and Adam Tolman tried a kick into space to peg the opponents back temporarily. Another penalty awarded against the over-enthusiastic O’D’s enabled Seyhan Fell to slot another long range penalty and the score was. 7-6.
Although the score was close, O’D’s – playing with all the elements in their favour were dominant and it was not until the game was 35 minutes old that Chris Petley put the first try scoring threat when he broke loose from wing forward and made 35 metres up field before being brought down. ‘Thomo’ Murray and Fraser Hendy were substituted by Harry Smith and Mike Gardener.
The O’D’s repetitive tactics of high kicks found reward when The Stones could not secure the falling, twisting ball from a 50 metre kick and there was no defence against a 30 metre run in under the posts. 14-6.
Seyhan Fell managed a strong kick against the wind and possession was won and retained within 15 metres of the O’D’s line. Repeated defensive infringements earned O’D;s a referee’s warning and a penalty try was threatened. Folkestone took two scrums instead of penalty kicks at goals but it failed when the ball was fumbled.
Now, in the second half, there was some optimism for The Stones and O’D’s were given a taste of their own tactics when a long kick downfield, downhill and downwind went over the heads of everyone. Ollie Walton was level in the sprint for the ball with two defenders; fly kicked it forward, and won the flat out race for the touchdown. Unfortunately the conversion attempt hit the posts and bounced back. 14-11.
O’D’s hit back quickly when The Stones were offside and a penalty gave them a six point advantage. 17-11. Folkestone coach, Leigh Fitchie, then switched his team around bringing in Jon Eustace to centre, Adam Tolman was moved to scrum half and Seyhan fell went to full back, with Doug Wood being rested.
James Archer pinched possession and Jon Morton put in a long diagonal kick to within 5 metres. O’D’s took the touch but were forced back over their own line – conceding the 5 metre scrum. Deep breaths and a massive push took the opponents backwards and Chris Petley, holding the ball in the back row, broke loose and scored, but again the much needed conversion just slipped wide. 17-16.
Dunstonians fought back with a vengeance, pressing the Folkestone line for a series of battering attacks to the left, to the right, and under the posts – every one of them being repulsed by some superb tackling. Here one could see the determination and team spirit at its best. The score was denied when O’D’s eventually made a handling mistake and the pressure was relieved. But only temporarily – Folkestone were awarded a scrum, but the ball bounced from Jake’s Ellis’ knee into the opposition second row and O’D’s played a very quick ball out to the right, catching The Stones out of position and a strong running centre couldn’t be stopped. The try was converted and Folkestone faced a 24-16 deficit with 10 minutes to play.
But there was no despondency – another penalty offense saw Seyhan Fell put his third, 35 metre plus kick, through the posts to bring some hope, 24-19. Folkestone were rampant and striving with everything they could muster to win the game. Tolman kicked to the try line, O’D’s clearance kick was charged down but just went dead before it could be touched. Mike Gardner went clear with 15 metres to run and no-one in defence, but was brought back for a knock on offence at the lineout. The forwards battled and Old Dunstonians made no attempt at subtlety in their time wasting to protect their lead.
In the last minute Folkestone put the ball into touch 8 metres out, O’D’s took the throw in and won the ball, tying it up in a throng of players but the accipitrine (hawk like! Editors note) vision of Chris Petley saw the ball which he wrenched loose, and charged – shoulders down and head forward for the line – he was held up on the line but loosened his arm to throw the ball to Jiggles Ellis. Now, ‘Jiggles’ is about 15+ stones, young and fit and keen and the whole of the O’D’s team were not going to stop him, and they didn’t. The try was awarded 15 metres to the right of the posts, the wind was blowing, the scores were level and time was up. We didn’t notice the bead of sweat on Seyhan Fell’s forehead as he calmly put the conversion absolutely central through the middle of the posts. Final Score: 24 – 26. Phew!!
And what a very good, hard and sporting match it was, well refereed – and with an entertaining and jovial band of home supporters.
This Folkestone team deserve every support and another tight, sporting match is promised next week when they tackle (low, we hope) Cranbrook – now one point above Folkestone in the league.

Team:- Adam Tolman; Thomo Murray, Seyhan Fell, Kyle Deakin, Ollie Walton; Jon Morton, doug Wood; James Archer, Jake Ellis, Tom Carvill; Martin Murray (Capt.), Jack Barton; Frazer Hendy, Will Turner, Chris Petley.
Subs: Michael Gardner, Harry Smith, John Eustace.
Scorers: Seyhan Fell 3, 3, 3, 2; Ollie Walton 5; Chris Petley 5; Jake Ellis 5.