The Spitfire 2011

Well done to Medway RFC who won the Spitfire Tournament for the first time beating Folkestone 6-0 in the final. They deserved the win against a very flat home team performance but let’s go back to the start.

In their opening game Folkestone were up against the University Vandals who are made up of former club juniors who are now at university. These youngsters hadn’t played together since last year’s event but they showed their natural flair with some terrific moves, the ball flying through the hands. Hopefully when they finish their studies most of them will return to the club to take their places in the 1st XV squad. From the start of the game though they were pushed into their own 22 with Stones’ fly half, Chris Petley controlling the match going through his repertoire of passes and combining especially well with Adam Tolman who was picking excellent attacking lines coming from deep. It was no surprise to see them set up the first score with Petley sending a perfect offload to Tolman who sprinted straight through the students’ defence for the opening try which was converted by Seyhan Fell. 7-0
But Lady Luck was not smiling on Folkestone today when, both, Petley and Tolman left the pitch injured and unable to take any further part in the competition. Coach Darren Molloy had almost an entire 1st XV watching the game unable to play because of injury but still managed to field a large squad and he was determined to give them all game time which meant, of course, the team was continually chopped and changed. Full credit to Molloy. Yes he could have fielded his strongest team and possibly won the event but he has his eye on bigger wins with promotion his priority target for the season and to achieve that he needs a playing squad with a lot of depth.
Folkestone effectively ended the game with a second converted try in the second half. This time the Stones backs combined well with hooker, Richard Puddy, working the ball from right to left drawing in defenders before releasing Fell to drive over in the corner. 14-0.

Next up for Folkestone was the legendary Stella Hands, an invitation team made up of former and current Stones together with “characters” from other clubs. Their training and team talks take place in the bar or in their mobile HQ and they play rugby with a smile and sometimes a bit of a growl. The shirt is so treasured that Taavi Ermel flew over from Estonia just to earn his so the try he scored in the second half was a great moment for him to take back home. The unfortunate thing was that by the time he scored his try Folkestone had crossed the line 3 times. The first score was started by Luke Simpson going close on the right wing. The ball then moved across the pitch to the left wing where Fell went close in the opposite corner and once again Folkestone recycled the ball and this time Trevor Squire went crashing over the line for the opening score. Fell added the conversion. 7-0. The second try saw another good passing movement with young Jak Cox finishing it under the posts. Fell added another conversion. 14-0.
The third Folkestone score came when the Hand’s restart didn’t cross the 10 metre line giving Folkestone a scrum in the centre of the pitch. Young Czech scrum half, Jakub Kopfiva , who gets better with every game whipped the ball out of the scrum and took it on himself feeding the ball perfectly to Darren Lehmann on the charge and nothing was going to stop him. Fell added another conversion. 21-0.
Stella Hands twice turned down the option of an easy penalty kick in favour of running the ball. These boys do have style so it was a nice moment for them and Ermel when he went over the line after a quick tap penalty. 21-7.

That win put Folkestone in the semi final but before they could play that game, assistant coach Steve Milward took to the pitch to add some physical power to the University Vandals, most of whom he had coached as juniors. He added to the entertainment value and looked good enough to force himself into the Folkestone squad. His contribution helped the students into the semi final. Not bad for an old boy!

Next up for Folkestone was Sheppey in the semi final. Home fans were biting their nails as Sheppey, with a penalty in each half to lead 6-0 as the clock was counting down. The home support were not optimistic knowing that the game was near it’s end. New Zealander, Richard Puddy, had other ideas. Folkestone restarted the match after the second penalty and the popular New Zealander led the charge to the ball catching it and driving for the line. The home support was roaring him on to the line but he was stopped inside the Sheppey 22. Then up stormed Jonny Morton and Puddy got the ball to him. Morton sent an outrageous dummy pass to send most of the Sheppey defence out to the right wing and then moved in on his left beating 2 defenders as he scored, crucially under the posts. He had made the kick supposedly easy for Fell but knowing he had to score to win the game was a lot of pressure to take. Fell hit it sweetly and Folkestone were in the final. Sheppey, though, had run them close.

In the other semi final University Vandals pushed Medway hard with the game ending in a 7-7 draw. Extra time with the “golden try” was played. The students were first on the attack but the Medway defence was strong and resolute. They turned the ball over and moved up the field to score an excellent try to break the students’ hearts. But these youngsters, in their second appearance at this event had provided excellent entertainment all day long.

So to the final. Folkestone started off surprisingly flat. They had to wait a long time to get started and the supposed rest did them no favours. Once again they commited silly infringements gifting easy penalty kicks and Medway went into a 6-0 lead. The crowd were wondering if they could repeat their semi final trick of winning with the final move of the match and teasingly for a few moments the glorious climax looked possible as again Puddy battered his way up the pitch. Lehmann was again in support and he roared on to the line but was caught just yards short and the ball was kicked out for a Medway victory. Well done to them. In my opinion they were the better team. They were disciplined and took their chances well.
The Folkestone squad looked dejected after the game. They did not do themselves justice. It was a match they could have won. Medway look like a team who will be fighting for promotion this season as do Folkestone so it will be very interesting to see what happens in the first league match when Medway again visit Folkestone. It could turn out to be a classic.
I’m sorry not be able to mention more of the performances of The Boxy Barbarians team. They were made up by Folkestone players who attended the wedding of Alex Box and his lovely bride, Emma, the previous day!
Emma even turned up with the wedding cake to feed the supporters. Many readers will be surprised to hear the first day of their honeymoon was a rugby tournament but next week they fly out to New Zealand to follow England and being young lover full of optimism they have tickets for the World Cup Final. The players and supporters of Folkestone RFC will wish them all the best. The Spitfire has always been a sporting event with good rugby and lots of fun so it is good to see the likes of the Stella Hands, the Vandals and Boxy’s Barbarians taking on other Kent clubs. Well done to Whitstable as well. They have had a terrible couple of seasons but they stormed back here to win the Plate competition. Good luck to them this season.

Chris Petley and Adam Tolman looked in good form and would have challenged for Folkestone’s top man today but for me Richard Puddy had a terrific performance. He is a feisty player in the scrum and all over the pitch he was causing trouble for the opposition. In fact all of Folkestone's summer signings continue to impress. Scotty Evans, Rob Hudson and Jakub Kopfiva all made telling contributions to the team as did Michal Krizanek until he joined Petley and Tolman in the sick bay.

A big thank you to Dave Oliver from Kent Refs who invited Neve Hennessey, Nick Wickham, Jez Michaels and David Forbes-Gower to take on the thankless task of refereeing and they each added to the entertainment of the event.

And I’ll end where I started. Well done Medway.