Folkestone started well but ended up with a losing bonus point.

FOLKESTONE 1stXV 15 LEWES 1stXV 17

21st October 2017 London 3 South East Report from Alan Schofield.

Folkestone and Lewes matches have always provided good entertainment and good rugby with plenty of points – but both have a high ‘points against’ tally for their mid-table league positions showing, perhaps, some leaky defences. But it was the wind and the heavy rain on this day that was going to be the main factor to overcome.
Folkestone will have been dissatisfied with this result for a number of reasons - and dismayed that they now find themselves in preantepenultimate position in the league table – very much in the relegation area. And this after conceding a 15 point lead and spurning good chances to win.

Dan Hillier and Conor Guilfoyle were making their first appearance for the 1st XV in a much changed line-up but it all started positively for them as acting captain, John Eustace, made ground to force a penalty that Seyhan Fell slotted over easily in the fifth minute. And it looked even more rosy as Seyhan Fell seized on a handling error by Lewes – kicked the ball 40 metres into space – followed it at pace, picked it up and scored a try, converting it to show a 10 – 0 scoreboard after only nine minutes.

Lewes, with a team containing only 5 players from the same fixture, on the same date, last year fought back strongly and attacked The Stones’ line strongly. They crossed the line and touched down, but were brought back for obstruction – to be given a penalty kick! But Folkestone defended that well. Some good handling and passing rugby (helped with a couple of penalties) saw Folkestone then attacking in the opponent’s 10 metre zone. The forwards took control and Bob Porter used his strength to squeeze through a pile of players to touch the ball down for a try and a 15 – 0 lead.

Lewes, however, were adept at keeping the ball in their possession whereas Folkestone were prone to passing, kicking and handling errors in the unpleasant playing conditions. In a strong move on the right, following a penalty, Lewes gained a 5 metre touch and scored from a back row move from the line-out all too easily. 15-5. This was followed by more strong attacks as the first half went well into stoppage time. Folkestone kicked clear in the eighth minute of extra time, but the Lewes wing grabbed the ball, only to knock it on – Folkestone kicked the ball backwards into the dead ball area where it was grounded, expecting the half-time whistle - but the referee gave a 5 metre scrum to Lewes causing everyone considerable confusion. Now, in the inexplicable 10th minute of stoppage time Lewes powered the ball over to score in the corner. 15 – 10. But even then, after the failed conversion attempt, the half continued into the 50th minute, Lewes broke through missed tackle attempts in the centre and ran through to score under the posts and take the lead with the conversion. 15 – 17. After the conversion in the 12th minute of stoppage time, the referee considered that that was enough.

The second half is one that Folkestone will try to forget. Changes were made as James Lunnun, Scott Stewart and Conor Guilfoyle came on, but somehow the team seemed to lose thrust. Lewes had showed in the first half that they were a capable side in defence and The Stones did not have the wherewithal to look like breaking this down

The penalty count was mounting as play became unco-ordinated. Conditions deteriorated in heavy rain and strong winds. Folkestone had two chances to take the lead by penalty kicks conceded – the second on the 22 metre line almost in front of the posts – but a scrum was elected to be taken, to Lewes’ delight, as they shoved the Folkestone eight off the ball and kicked it clear.

Thomas Snare and Sam Beech tried to regain some initiative and Scott Stewart tried some solitary barges at the opposition but the teamwork seemed to be lacking. There was more disruption as Jake Ellis then was injured which brought Kieran Smith back into the play but although Folkestone consistently had territorial advantage in the second half Lewes contained everything that Folkestone could muster when the rather rhadamanthine referee, and the awful conditions, allowed play to continue for more than a minute at a time. The final whistle was blown without a point being scored in the second half – something that Folkestone should ponder upon, more than briefly.

Having now played all of teams above them in the division, The Stones have now to concentrate on gaining some points from those few teams lower than them to give themselves a platform for the second half of a season which has started unusually badly for them.

Team: Seyhan Fell; Dan Hillier, John Eustace (Capt.), Aaron Robbins, Josh Holt; Kyle Deakin, Callum Palmieri; Thomas Snare, Steve Doughty, Bob Porter; Jake Ellis, Kieran Smith; Jeremie Cowell, Sam Beech, Liam Trinder.

Subs: Scott Stewart, Conor Guilfoyle, James Lunnun.

Scorers: Seyhan Fell 3, 5, 2; Bob Porter 5.