The 2nds continue their winning ways

Shepherd Neame Premier 2 East. Folkestone 2nds 35 East Peckham 1sts 6
1st November 2014 Report by Alex Box

The Folkestone second team squad has had some consistency in selections and player combinations this season, which is really starting to show its rewards. This game was an example of the Folkestone team attacking strongly with confidence, but some excellent strong defence throughout the match.

Folkestone began strongly with Ryan Farrow turning the ball over in contact directly after the visitors received the kick off. The scrum from Folkestone proved to be very strong with Bob Porter and Mat Roots dominating their opposite numbers. And the pressure resulted in an early score and summed up what was to come for Folkestone. After numerous phases of Folkestone securing the ball, Frank Morgan placed an excellent kick that was chased down by Jade McCaffrey who turned over the winger and gained the possession, before some interpassing led to Kevin Murray taking a pass from Frankie Morgan to score near to the posts.

Folkestone continued the pressure on East Peckham with the only first half points for the visitors being a solitary penalty of three points. The defensive effort with strong tackling from Billy Monk, Jake Ellis, Dan Cowell and the centre pairing of Elliot Dempsey and Ryan Farrow ensured the visitors did not cross the home try line.

More tries were scored from Folkestone, with scores from Jake Ellis, Frank Morgan and Ryan Farrow making the halftime score 20-3. The score line could have been more, with Folkestone dominating the breakdown, winning the scrums and breaking the visitors defensive lines. But handling errors and forcing difficult passes turned over possession and lost the opportunity.

The second half brought much of the same with an early try from Ryan Farrow, as Jade McCaffrey made an excellent break and took the ball close to the try line with opposition players just holding him up as Ryan Farrow came through to take the available ball and dot it over the line for another score.

Elliot Dempsey and Ross Johnson made life very difficult for East Peckham with some excellent running lines that cut open space for supporting players like Chris Goldfinch and Jade McCaffrey to make good ground for Folkestone.

Carl Tibbetts made a big impact, in his return from concussion injury, showing great strength and powerful carries through the opposition forwards. The players who came late into the game from the bench, Terry Holt and Ali O'Connor carried on the dominance that Folkestone had.
Another try was well taken by Jade McCaffrey breaking through tackles to run the ball near the posts from out wide.

The final try came after numerous threatening phases in the East Peckham 22, and Kevin Murray took a pass from scrum half Lewis Howland at the back of a ruck before crashing over the line from a few metres out. Which became the final score of the day at 35 - 6.

There were some excellent performances from a lot of players in this squad that is growing in confidence and enjoying their rugby. Notably Dan Cowell, Elliot Dempsey, Frank Morgan and Jade McCaffrey. But Ryan Farrow deserves man of the match, as he not only took his tries well, but also made such an impact turning the ball over at crucial times.

This Folkestone Seconds team will look to continue this good run of results, and with league leaders Medway and strong league contenders Snowdown that are fixtures coming soon, the challenge is eagerly anticipated.
Team: Ross Johnson; Max Walters, Elliot Dempsey, Ryan Farrow, Jade McCaffrey; Frankie Morgan, Lewis Howland; Bob Porter, Alex Box (Capt.), Mat Roots; Jake Ellis, Billy Monk; Kev Murray, Dan Cowell, Kieran Smith.
Subs: Terry Holt, Ali O'Connor, Carl Tibbetts, Chris Goldfinch.