This must have been one of the few rugby matches played in Kent due to the atrocious weather during the last week.

15th February 2014 Report by Steve Hughes

This must have been one of the few rugby matches played in Kent due to the atrocious weather during the last week.
The ground was no more than soggy but with a high wind blowing diagonally across the pitch Snowdown elected to play against the elements and must rue that decision as within 60 seconds Folkestone were five points up with a break by John Eustace who fed Will Silvey to cross way out for an unconverted try. 5 - 0.
Snowdown had the opportunity to hit back with a penalty in front of the visitors posts but could not convert. Folkestone had the better of the scrums but the lineouts were fairly even. Both sets of backs were intent on moving the ball and it was only by determined defence by both sides that kept their lines intact.
Folkestone then added a delightful try with Silvey feeding Alex Pritchard who then fed Thommo Murray on his inside to see him slide in under the posts. The conversion was taken so far back that it sailed wide. 10 - 0. It's nice to see Thommo back after his year in New Zealand and look forward to him fighting for his place in the First XV.
The forward exchanges were fierce and for a time the game flowed between the two 22m areas with forward rushes and 'pick and drives'. In the van for Folkestone were Captain Alex Box, Anthony Bass, Mark Bartlett and Bob Porter. Folkestone then increased their lead further when Tom Murray and Adam Tolman combined to send Ryan Farrow over for another unconverted try.
Some solid tackling by John Eustace, Anthony Bass, Ben Gunn and Will Silvey helped keep the home score at zero. The penalty count was increasing and both sides were guilty. A good drive down to the home posts saw Adam Tolman flip the ball back to John Eustace who dropped a cheeky goal giving the visitors an eighteen point lead at half time.
Changing around with the wind now in Snowdown’s favour the game went flat for a while until Snowdown woke up and began putting the play together and with eleven phases took the ball from their own 22m area into the Folkestone red zone.
From a maul in front of the posts another infringement saw the home side take a short tap again but this time crashed over for a try under the posts. The conversion brought Snowdown back in to the game at 18 - 7.
The game was now becoming littered with penalties. Most were taken by the short tapped ball which kept the game moving.
Snowdown went down to 14 men for persistent infringments and this allowed Folkestone to increase their score when John Eustace and Ryan Farrow combined for Farrow to cross for another unconverted try. 23 - 7.
Anthony Bass saved a certain try by the home No.10 with a well timed tackle and John Eustace and Guy Ellis were unlucky on a sortie up the wing.
The Folkestone side was shuffled around to include all the substitutes on such a cold day but could not stop Snowdown adding to their score when bad tackling allowed their centre to shrug off players and score an unconverted try. 23 -12. This was then added to when from a loose maul near the corner flag a blind side move crashed over for the last play of the game with Folkestone leading 23 - 17 just as it started to rain.....
My Man of the Match was John Eustace who was the playmaker on the day and put in some crunching tackles without flinching. A good all round performance with a mix of players, most of whom hadn't played with each other previously.