A good win at Gillingham

London 3 South East

After their excellent win away to Bromley last week and playing a side who had lost 40 -7 to Heathfield nothing but a bonus point win would be acceptable before the Xmas break and the Folkestone boys duly delivered on the day.
With the wind at their backs in the first half Anchorians forwards held their own and for first twenty minutes both sides had good phases of possession and time in their opponents half. During this period Folkestone were determined to battle it out with a home team pack that had plenty of experience rather than open it out to their talented backs.
After a sustained period of pressure on the Anchorians try line the home team conceded a penalty and their winger received a yellow card for an infringement at the breakdown. Unfortunately James Mead was unable to convert the penalty. However the home team were unable to relieve the pressure and following a clearing kick which was well taken by Richard Dagger on the halfway line, he then beat the first two tacklers to release the Folkestone back line and for Bill Silvey to round off an excellent move with a try in the right hand corner. Further Folkestone pressure resulted in another yellow card for the home team, this time for their flanker for once again infringing at the breakdown.
The coaching team then introduced some fresh legs with the highly talented Adam Tolman returning after injury to replace James Mead and Olly Forbes replacing Carl Tebbitts. It was not long before Adam Tolman was on the score sheet when he was there to receive a pop pass from the ever improving Tom Carvill five metres from the try line and go over unopposed to make it 10-0 with ten minutes of the first half remaining.
With a kick off time of 2pm to ensure the game was played in the daylight the crowd started to get a little uneasy as the time approached 3pm and the first half due to stoppages was still in progress. The whistle finally went for halftime and the home side with the wind behind them in the second half were hopeful of getting on the scoreboard and making Folkestone work for a win.
Folkestone came out firing on all cylinders in the second half (must have been a great team talk by the coaching staff) and right away started to move the ball out to their backs and with Chris Petley making penetrating runs into the opposition half they were soon rewarded with an early try by Ollie Forbes who showed good strength and pace to cross the try line. It is great news that he has now returned home and will no doubt be a great addition to the team next year.
The forwards continued to dominate and the spectators were treated to some excellent handling skills. The next try came following an excellent run by fullback Ben Williams who released Will Turner to score under the posts and at last Bill Silvey kicked the conversion to give a comfortable 22-0 lead.
To their credit Anchorians continued to defend vigorously and as a result Folkestone had to work hard to get their last score of the game.
Again from open play Richard Dagger fielded the ball in his own half and with the spectators willing him to cross the line in his last game before entering Sandhurst Academy, he ran clear of the home defence but great cover defence pulled him down just short of the try line, from the resultant ruck Folkestone recycled the ball well and skipper Martin Murray crashed over the line to cap both an excellent individual and team performance. Adam Fullerton came on to replace Steve Doughty for the last 10 minutes.
Man of the match was without doubt Chris Petley who was impressive throughout the game and must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch, a true ‘Human Dynamo’!
So the Folkestone boys enter the Christmas break in 5th place in the league having secured a bonus point win and in good shape for the second half of the season and credit must go to both Leigh Fitchie, Mark Spearpoint and captain Martin Murray who have really galvanised the team since taking over and also treated the spectators to some really enjoyable rugby. The array of colourful Christmas jumpers in the bar after the game epitomised just what a great spirit there is in this team!

Team: Ben Williams; Thomo Murray, Ollie Walton, John Eustace, Richard Dagger; Will Silvey, James Mead; Martin Murray (Capt.), Steve Doughty, Tom Carvill; Josh Palmer, Ben Stringer; Carl Tibbetts, Chris Petley.
Subs: Adam Fullerton, Ollie Forbes, Adam Tolman.
Scorers: Will Silvey 5, 2; Adam Tolman 5; Ollie Walton?? 5; Will Turner 5; Martin Murray 5.