Six changes were forced upon coach Leigh Fitchie in the 24 hours before the game!

THANET WANDERERS 1st XV 39 FOLKESTONE 1st XV 21
Saturday 7th January 2017. London 3 SE Report from Alan Schofield
The two leading points scorers in the division faced each other in the kick off for 2017 and with Folkestone in a challenging position for a promotion place it was good to measure the comparison between the club at the top of the league table and Folkestone in fourth place.
But six changes were forced upon coach Leigh Fitchie in the 24 hours before the game and the team were disadvantaged from the start and they were not able to click together as well as in recent matches.
Seyhan Fell opened the scoring with a couple of penalties and from the early exchanges Folkestone looked lively and held attacking positions but the unsettled positioning of half the team was exposed when a move that started in the Thanet 22 metre zone went through 10 passes before a try was scored on the right wing. But the Stones came back strongly and only a blatant and deliberate off-side ploy by the Thanet pack prevented a pushover try. And the tactic worked as no yellow card was shown and Seyhan Fell hit the post with the resultant penalty. 0 - 6.
Thanet took the lead after 20 minutes with another try after Folkestone failed to find touch with a penalty and a changed direction of play saw Thanet sharply move the ball away from the defence, create an overlap and an easy try that was converted 12 – 6.
The Stones bounced back and Jordan Godden with Will Melia tested the Thanet forwards with strong runs before a most unfortunate incident. After Mat Roots and then Kieran Smith made strong attacks on the Thanet try line Ben Stringer powered his way over and a try was seemingly awarded. But the referee had a change of mind when he disallowed the try and came back to give Folkestone a penalty kick under the posts for a previous deliberate offence in the move by the Thanet forwards. It later was revealed that John Eustace had accidently barged into the referee who considered he then had inadvertently interfered with play. But as Stringer was in the act of diving to score the try this was accepted as a mistake. Seyhan Fell duly scored from the penalty but Folkestone were denied a very well worked try 12 – 9.
Salt was rubbed into the wound almost immediately as Thanet were awarded a penalty after they had appeared to knock on – this was converted – but it was worse for the visitors when from the restart their defences were weak as the home side were too fast and too slick for Folkestone to cope with as they ran in another good try. Thus, at half-time the score read 20 – 9 which rather unfairly reflected both the possession and the territory that Folkestone had achieved in the 40 minutes of play.
The second half was an untidy affair. It seemed it was not going to be Folkestone’s day as advantages and decisions went against them. Jake Ellis came on for Joby Crystal, Jon Morton was yellow carded under the new stringent rules for tackling. Thanet were finding it difficult to contain a series of pick and runs by the Folkestone forwards but minor offences and lengthy lectures from the referee tended to disrupt continuity.
Sam Beech and Callum Gibson were ever active but a couple of penalties put Thanet back onto the downhill slope of their pitch, close to the try line. They are well trained and well-rehearsed into using this to advantage and an eight man downhill shove could not be stopped as they scored their bonus point fourth try against the 14 men. 25 - 9.
A fight back was started after Folkestone won a scrum and Jordan Godden attacked hard. Jona Manu took it up and was held just short but a quick ball out to the left saw James Lunnun tap kick it forward to allow James Mead to round his opposite number and touch down in the corner. 25 -14.
Mistakes in opposition and a couple of minor injuries put The Stones on the back foot and Thanet, in spite of a yellow card, managed to score a couple of tries in ever worsening conditions in a game that was regularly being interrupted by events. The Thanet backs, when they got the ball, were strong and fast – and they had the tactics, to feed them. Unfortunately the positional changes in the backs caused some confusion in defence and the home side took full advantage of this situation to put the score out to 39 -14.
Undeterred by an ever-mounting series of penalties shared by both sides, and every minor offence in the book of laws Folkestone recovered to hold their own in the last 10 minutes of the game. James Archer and Mat Roots were formidable in the mauls and the rucks and Jordan Godden was a constant threat to his opposite number. Another yellow card weakened the home side – who were never averse to some dubious tactics – and it was a just reward for the forwards’ efforts when Will Melia picked up from the back of a ruck and ran in from 15 yards – rounded the opposition to touch down near to the posts. Seyhan Fell took the now easy conversion to end the game. 39 – 21.
On a slightly critical note I think it is right to censure Steve Hughes, Steve "Cribbo" Cribbens, Glenn Foreman, Colin Lane, Les Smith, Alex Ruddock and Mark Santer. Coach Leigh Fitchie was in a dilemma before the game after Mike Gardner and Steve Doughty with very late illnesses and Jake Ellis, delayed at work- left Fitchie without substitutes. All the above named were asked to step in – and all refused. The fact that most of them are over 60 and apparently lacking in some respects was no excuse, but fortunately they were not needed.

Team: 1. James Archer 2. Will Melia 3. Mat Roots; 4; Ben Stringer 5, Kieran Smith; 6. Joby Crystal, 7. Sam Beech, 8. Callum Gibson; 9. Jordan Godden, 10. James Lunnun; 11. James Mead, 12. John Eustace,
13. Jona Manu, 14. James Mead; 15. Seyhan Fell.

Sub: 16. Jake Ellis.

Scorers: Pen. Fell 0 – 3 2 mins; Pen Fell 0 – 6 7 mins; Pen Fell 12 – 9 23 mins;
Try Mead 25 – 14 54 mins; Try Melia 39 – 19 79 mins; Conv Fell 39 – 21 40 mins.