The 2nd XV stay in third place beaten by second placed Medway 3rds.

Shepherd Neame Premier 2 East
Folkestone 2nds 18 - Medway 3rds 36
Saturday 21st March 2015 Report by Steve Hughes

On a bitterly cold day with the wind blowing straight down the pitch it was surprising how entertaining the game was. However, it was a game dominated by penalties, six of which were converted.
Folkestone again produced a mixed side of players with five replacements from the team originally selected. Carl Tibbets captained the side in the absence of Alex Box who had been elevated to the 1st XV due to the lack of front row players to travel to Heathfield.
It was Folkestone who opened the score with a penalty by James Beaney, a youngster with a fine boot who helped keep the game ticking over with his penalties and conversions. Medway then took the lead with a well worked try down the wing and when challenged, popped the ball inside for an unconverted try. 3 - 5. Laurence Cox left the field early to be replaced by Ritchie Bowen at outside half - a new position for him - and he made himself a nuisance to the opposition all over the park (until he was sin binned for a no-arm tackle).
At this point, the home side were being pushed backwards every scrum which denied the three-quarters any quality ball.
James Beaney then slotted another penalty to take the lead 6 - 5 only for Medway to score a converted try after some loose tackling. 6 - 12. Just before half time Jake Ellis replaced the injured Miles Dempsey and Calum Gibson for Billy Monk.
Ritchie Bowen then score a first class try taking the ball from Carl Tibbetts and waltzing through the defence without a hand being laid on him. A difficult conversion by James Beaney gave Folkestone the lead of
13 - 12 at half time.
The second half saw a reshuffled side level out the previous imbalance in the scrums and the home side get their fair share of the ball.
However, playing with the wind Medway slotted two long range penalties to take back the lead 13 - 18 and only just missed a third. They then scored an unconverted try when the referee missed a blatant obstruction. 13 - 23.
The ball was not reaching the Folkestone wings and the majority of play centred around the pack with Bob Porter, Ashley Gilligan, Calum Gibson and Carl Tibbetts in the fore. Another penalty by Medway plus a converted try gave them a lead of 13-26 and with the help of the wind then forced Folkestone back into the Red Zone. A swift movement from left to right saw the home defence outflanked and another converted try plus another penalty gave Medway a lead of 23 points. 13-33. Folkestone never gave up trying and were rewarded in the dying minutes when James Beaney caught a kick out of defence and burst down the right wing. He fed Richie Bowen who took the ball down to the Medway try line and set up a loose maul. Carl Tibbetts wrenched it free and set the line in motion for Ashley Gilligan to crash over for an unconverted try with the final score at 18-36.
Folkestone worked hard against a stronger, more co-ordinated side but for a mixed side gave a good account of themselves. The game was a stop-start affair littered with penalties but the Folkestone spirit was high and showed a desire to play open rugby when given the chance.

Squad: James Beaney; Jade McCaffrey, Dave Ballard, Ross Johnson, Laurence Cox; Greg Wood; Pete White, Ashley Gilligan, Bob Porter; Tim Wood, Billy Monk; Terry Holt, Dan Cowell, Carl Tibbetts (Capt.), Miles Dempsey.

Subs: Richie Bowen, Jake Ellis, Calum Gibson, Tony Bass.

Scorers: James Beaney 3, 3;