Folkestone produced their best team effort of the season in a rout of Aylesford Bulls

AYLESFORD BULLS 1st XV 0 FOLKESTONE 1st XV 41
Saturday 4th March 2017 London 3SE By:- Alan Schofield

Folkestone produced their best team effort of the season in a comprehensive rout of Aylesford Bulls – themselves on a high after an eyebrow raising victory over league leaders Thanet in their previous game.
In a six try spree The Stones displayed a superb purpose in attack and defence to obtain victory with a bonus point that sees them a remarkable 24 points clear of their nearest rivals and competing for a top three finish in the league.
Only two minutes had elapsed before The Stones took up a loose ball from a ruck Kyle Deakin fed James Lunnun and John Eustace following up at speed powered his way through to score on the right, Seyhan Fell just missing his conversion attempt. 0 – 5. Thereafter for 15 minutes The Bulls were forced into defence by a very lively Folkestone pack, backed up by strong running three-quarters. Even when the ball was lost Aylesford could find nowhere to go that gained them more than a few metres before being hauled to the ground by the Folkestone tacklers. The Bulls were forced into kicking anywhere to relieve pressure, but three times in as many minutes James Lunnun put The Stones right back into attack with beautifully directed kicks.
It was inevitable that the The Bulls would buckle and they were completely undone after a series of seven phases of pick and runs, Kyle Deakin fed the ball out right, and with Jordan Godden creating an extra man - a fast accurate pass found James Lunnun who, with a purposeful run through an outnumbered defence, scored close to the posts giving Seyhan Fell an easy conversion. 0 – 12.
To add to their woes The Bulls earned a yellow card and a penalty kick against them that Seyhan Fell easily converted from 38 metres. 0 – 15. A resurgence by them, helped by a couple of penalties, penned Folkestone back in their own 22 metre zone for fully 10 minutes, Chris Petley being yellow carded for joining the maul from the side – a rather hard decision - but the forwards carried on undeterred with some impressive and successive phases from ball won and retained in the rucks and mauls. Kyle Deakin’s passing from the base of these pieces was fast and accurate with James Lunnun controlling play either by tactical kicks or feeding an ever-present Michael Gardner – who was always a handful for his opposite numbers. It was a classical three-quarter move that released Jon Morton to outsprint everyone to touch down for the third try after 38 minutes, converted by an in form Seyhan Fell. 0 – 22.
James Archer started the second half to replace Matt Roots who had picked up an ankle injury, but The Stones came out even more determined to add to their tally. Throughout the first half the combination of Will Melia and Jordan Godden at the line outs gave The Bulls little sight of the ball, and it was from a line out only five minutes from the restart that the forwards through Ben Stringer, Cameron Dallas and John Eustace made bullish charges to gain 30 metres. The recycling of the ball was fast and accurate with The Bulls not knowing whether Folkestone would take it on or use Kyle Deakin’s long, fast and accurate passing to release his backs. They were again in disarray when Will Melia went straight through the middle to score the bonus point try that Fell converted from near to the posts. 0 – 29.
After an elegant and faultless display at scrum half, Kyle Deakin stood down to give Lewis Howland a game and only minutes later it showed the strength in depth that Folkestone possess when Lewis Howland picking up from the back of a ruck fed the ball out left, through Chris Petley and John Eustace - who made ground to give a short pass to James Mead tightly hemmed in on the touchline, but he deftly dodged inside a determined tackle and sprinted through to score a fine try on the left wing. Seyhan Fell was at his best to convert the score to 0 – 36.
The Bulls fought back and for a time had The Stones stretched the full width of the pitch, putting in some doughty defence to keep the home half of the scoreboard at zero but with Aylesford wholly committed to scoring the elusive try they badly needed, they forgot their own defence and Jon Morton saw a narrow gap - rather than a relieving kick, he broke through and ran up field for 30 metres before kicking straight forward and had the speed to beat a desperately retreating opposition to score out on the wide right. 0 – 41.
In the final session Bob Porter picked up a yellow card for killing the ball in the loose and Kyle Deakin came back for James Lunnun to have a well deserved rest – he had been the lynch pin of many attacking moves and his tactical kicking was as impressive as seen at any time this season. But even then, The Bulls were not for giving up and again Folkestone were hard pressed, but managed the final 12 minutes looking as fit and confident as when they started.
With the top four teams playing against each other in next week’s fixture list Folkestone have an opportunity at home against Gillingham to enhance their league position and in this form, they are going to take some stopping - but remembering that Gillingham scored 36 points against them to win the earlier fixture.

Team: Seyhan Fell; Josh Holt, Jon Morton(Capt.), Michael Gardner, James Mead; James Lunnun, Kyle Deakin; Mat Roots, Will Melia, Bob Porter; Cameron Dallas, Ben Stringer; Chris Petley, Jordan Godden, John Eustace.
Subs: James Archer, Jake Ellis, Lewis Howland.
Score: John Eustace 5; James Lunnun 5; Seyhan Fell 2, 3, 2, 2, 2; Jon Morton 5, 5; Will Melia 5; James Mead 5.