A good win in deepest Kent Woodland

Shepherd Neame Premier 2East
Saturday 25th October 2014. Report by Alex Box
After a long drive into the deep woods near Tonbridge, the Folkestone Second team found the leafy pitch of Leigh Layabouts. With a few new faces in this Seconds team, the group all focused well in their pre-match warm-up and run through’s. However, the start of the game was delayed due to the referee being delayed on his journey from Belgium!
After starting 20 minutes later than planned, Folkestone immediately showed their hand, with a fast turnover at the breakdown and moving the ball wide to carve through the Leigh defence before play broke down with early game rustiness.
The first half of the match saw Folkestone running up the sloped pitch, but this was no match for the fitness and pace of the back line, with Frankie Morgan, Elliot Dempsey and Lewis Howland all making great territory through the Leigh defence. One score in particular saw Josh Kemp breaking through, Jake Ellis carrying strongly, with Lewis Howland, Jake Ellis, James Mead all combining with some great supporting offloads for Jake Ellis to score.
Leigh pressured near the end of the first half, keeping Folkestone pinned in their 22 for a while, but some scrum dominance and consistent defence meant the hosts had no way through.
The second half showed more of the same, with scrum dominance turning over five possessions from Leigh, and a few steals at the line out also helping Folkestone to continue the pressure and continue the scoring opportunity.
With a strong dominance there were a number of tries and scores made; those who touched down for Folkestone were Josh Kemp, Jake Ellis, Tony Bass, Frank Morgan, James Mead, Max Walters, Jade McCaffery and Chris Finch.
The back three was made up of Alex Pritchard at fullback, with Max Walters and Jade McCaffery on the wings. Their support play was crucial to game Folkestone were playing, with strong running in attack and great tackling in defence against opposition that seemed to have the size advantage, and they took their try scoring opportunities with good skill. Chris Goldfinch came on to replace Alex Pritchard, with James Mead moving into the full back position. Chris Goldfinch did makes some errors he would like to forget, but will certainly remember where the dead ball line is from now on and he did take two tries very well with some strong running and fending off the opposition. Connor Addington came on for Jade McCaffery and continued the strong running game.
The centres were James Mead, normally a scrum half, and Elliot Dempsey at 12 making his Folkestone game debut. Elliot Dempsey worked well to keep the ball moving, controlling the defence line well and providing great support play. James Mead showed his own brand of rugby, with strong break away runs, and calmly and successfully taking the conversions kicks very well.
The half backs were Lewis Howland at scrum half and Frankie Morgan at fly half. Lewis Howland made sure the opposition could never stop watching him, as he made darting run after run, with Frankie Morgan calling the play and passes from fly half. Frankie Morgan also made a huge impact with his strong fending runs brushing off the opposition and offloading well to supporting runners.
The front row was Harry Paton, Alex Box and Bob Porter, who showed some strong scrummaging, with five possession turnovers coming from the scrum alone. In particular, Harry Paton was a consistent threat to the opposition with some strong unstoppable runs straight through defending players. Gareth Webber replaced Bob Porter in the second half and the Folkestone pack continued to show dominance in scrum and rucks.
The second row was Terry Holt and Tony Bass. For Terry Holt it was his first game in this position and he showed that he was up for the challenge, scrummaging well and supporting the break downs. Tony Bass played hard and abrasively, and ran some great supporting lines, which resulted in a try under the posts. Ali O’Connor replace Terry Holt in the second half and continued the supportive defence making sure Leigh did not disrupt Folkestone’s play at the rucks.
The back row were the stars of the team. Dan Cowell at blindside flanker, making constant tackles, strong in rucks and turnovers and a very effective carrier, nearly scoring through the opposition players under the posts, but did force a penalty try to be awarded. Jake Ellis was also strong in tackles and defence, but made a big impact in his carrying and support play with the Folkestone back line. However Man of the Match goes to Josh Kemp; returning after two weeks away, his contribution was an enormous part of the Folkestone win. Great stealing at ruck time, good jumping at line-out time, strong defensive tackles all over the park, and a great try with some quick thinking from around the back of the ruck.
Team: Alex Pritchard; Jade McCaffery, James Mead, Elliot Dempsey, Max Walters; Frank Morgan, Lewis Howland; Bob Porter, Alex Box (Capt), Harry Paton; Terry Holt, Anthony Bass; Dan Cowell, Josh Kemp, Jake Ellis.
Subs: Gareth Webber; Ali O’Connor, Chris Goldfinch, Connor Addington
Scorers: Josh Kemp 5; Jake Ellis 5; Tony Bass 5; Frank Morgan 5; James Mead 5; Max Walters 5; Jade McCaffery 5; Chris Goldfinch 5, 5; Frankie Morgan 2,2; James Mead 2,2,2.