A heavy defeat by an Uckfield side whom themselves have been struggling for points

FOLKESTONE 23 pts v UCKFIELD 39 pts
October 11th 2014 Report by Alan Schofield
Weakened, with 13 players unavailable, 5 players making their 1st XV debuts and 5 positional changes this was a new look Folkestone team taking the field against Uckfield with the 5th captain of the season to date in John Eustace.
And they suffered a heavy defeat by an Uckfield side whom themselves have been struggling for points in London South-East, Division 3.
After a bright start the young Stones team allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by a very heavy and experienced pack of eight forwards, but they still continued to try to take them on – rather than using the agility and speed they have in the backs.
With a 23 – 8 lead just before half time, Folkestone contrived to lose the lead in the next 10 minutes of playing time and go on to concede 31 points without reply.
Jon Morton opened the scoring with two well taken penalties in the first 10 minutes and then after Jack Cox combined with Warren Blandford to take them close, Frankie Morgan fed Richie Bowen who made 20 metres in a strong individual run for the line. Jon Morton converted and the score was 13 – 0 after 13 minutes.
The Stones defence now came under pressure and a penalty was conceded to put the visitors on the scoreboard, but the gap was restored within minutes after a high tackle gave Jon Morton another 3 points. 16 – 3
A speculative fly kick down the right wing towards the try line seemed to be well under control, but the ball was fumbled and Uckfield seized on their fortune to score and bring the score to 16 – 8. But again The Stones went straight onto attack and tested the brick wall of the Uckfield forwards until Jordan Godden beautifully dummied his opposite number and scored under the posts, this was converted to bring the score, just minutes before half time was a creditable 23 points to 8 points.
If the inexperienced Folkestone team thought they had a winning combination, they were very mistaken as just before and immediately after half time Uckfield showed their power with two well taken tries albeit assisted by missed tackles – and then a horrible pass from Frankie Morgan was easily intercepted on the halfway line for another Uckfield try - this time under the posts - and after 50 minutes the score had moved to 23 – 27.
This inspired the Uckfield forwards and they now dominated play, reducing Folkestone to pure defence. And not very convincingly - for another converted try was conceded to further extend the embarrassment to 23 – 35,
When Folkestone had the ball in the second half they continued to try to take on the opponent’s muscular and inspired pack rather than use their agility and speed on the wings. But these tactics were bound to fail and Uckfield proved the point demonstrably by scoring a pushover try in the 75th minute from 15 metres out. The final score was 23 – 39, and much for the players to think about.
There were some good individual performances especially from Richie Bowen and Chris Petley. Jon Morton kicked well and John Eustace was formidable in defence. The debutants Alex Evans; Carl Tibbetts; Ross Dempsey, Miles Dempsey and Jake Ellis all had a taste of first team rugby and clearly all deserved their place. But it may take a game or two to settle in at this level.
And a mention must be made of an excellent refereeing performance by Gary Payne. Although he awarded 25 penalties (11 against The Stones) – which did interrupt the attempt at fast flowing rugby that is a tactic that Folkestone employ – there was little or no argument against any of his decisions.
Folkestone must re-group and re-think for their away game with Hastings and Bexhill next Saturday and Leigh Fitchie with his coaching team will be addressing the point in training this coming week.

Team: Jon Morton ; Richard Dagger, Ross Dempsey, John Eustace, Jack Cox; Frankie Morgan, Jordan Godden; Alex Evans, Warren Blandford, Steve Doughty; Ben Stringer, Carl Tibbetts; Charlie Millen, Richie Bowen, Chris Petley.
Subs: Adam Fullerton, Miles Dempsey, Jake Ellis.
Scorers: Jon Morton 3, 3, 2, 3, 2; Richie Bowen 5; Jordan Godden 5.