FRFC 47 Park House 0

What a difference a week makes. Last week Folkestone produced their weakest performance of the season losing away to Mairdstone. Just 7 days later they were back on form with a classy display that blew Park House away. In the past, matches between these two teams have been full blooded affairs with yellow and red cards all over the place Today’s referee Mr Howard Jenkins, on his first visit to the New Burlington, took control of the game right from the start and his game management set up a good contest with both teams playing in the right spirit. The firm home pitch was a credit to the groundstaff, Billy Bingham and his assistant, Alan Schofield, and favoured the team willing to run the ball and today it was Folkestone who were turning on the style with some great scores.
It took 10 minutes for Folkestone to get on the scoreboard and by that time they had managed to botch 2 try scoring chances with terrible final passes after sweeping forward. I’ve said before that rugby is an easy game to play from the safety of the touchline and mistakes can happen when you are actually on the pitch. So after making these mistakes teams have to get them right out of their mind and play without inhibition and that’s what Folkestone did. Ollie Brooks began the move for the opening try as he powered through the centre moving beyond the gain line before perfectly off-loading to Richard Puddy who scored under the posts. Get the ball to Puddy within 10 metres of the line and it is virtually a guaranteed score. Today again he made no mistake. Seyhan Fell added the conversion and Folkestone were up and running.
5 minutes later and Folkestone were again bearing down on the visitor’s line, this time Jack McMurray was first to a loose ball on the ground. He made a great pick up off the ground and in the same movement offloaded to Ben Brooks in the perfect position to run the ball in for the second try. Fell again converted.
The next score came from a Folkestone line-out inside the Park House 22. The Folkestone line-out is becoming a work of art as the forwards have developed an almost telepathic understanding and from this throw Folkestone sucked in the Park House pack and then drove them back to their line while putting the ball in the safe hands of Mat Roots who was unstoppable. Fell added another conversion. 21-0.
The teams changed ends and it was more of the same as Folkestone searched for the 4th try and a bonus point in the league. Coach Darren Molloy is well aware that bonus points could be crucial at the end of the season with Folkestone, Crowborough and Medway fighting it out for promotion.
The home support only had to wait 5 minutes into the second half for that bonus point try which came when Rob Hudson stole a Park House line-out ball on the left wing just outside the visitor’s 22. The ball was swept across the park with Fell joining the line to leave him and Jon Morton with one defender to beat. Fell calmly drew his man and once he was committed slipped the ball to Morton who went over for the score. 26-0.
Park House were finding it difficult to get out of their 22 and never looked like scoring but give them credit. They’ve not had a good season so far but they didn’t give up. But it was Folkestone who were well on top here.
Will Massey was the next Stones scorer as he dived over the line and Fell added another conversion for a 33-0 lead.
Adam Tolman at scrum half was bossing the game and he was setting up waves of attack either with passes which split the defence, good tactical kicking and taking the ball on himself. He is a deceptively quick runner who seems to brush past players. This time he had Ollie Brooks in support and he crashed forward before finding Jon Morton and another try converted by Fell. 40-0.
With just 10 minutes to go Park House pushed for the traditional consolation try but Folkestone were determined not to give it away and they just kept on turning the screw. Ben Edwards took a quick tap penalty inside the Park House 22 and went for the line. Held up just short he set the ball perfectly for his team mates and the ball went to Massey who made the final 3 metres to the try line. Not surprisingly Fell added his 6th conversion from 7 attempts. 47-0.
On Saturday Folkestone have a rest weekend although coach Molloy may look for a friendly to keep his boys ticking over. This game saw Folkestone back to their best. On form they set up waves of attack and build pressure on their opponents and today Park House couldn’t contain them; not many teams will. Folkestone will now have to live with their own pressure though as they cannot afford to lose any more matches if they want to win promotion. They will also have the added pressure of needing to earn the 4 try bonus point in each game. Their next 2 league matches are against Crawley away and Eastbourne at home. In the first games against these teams Folkestone achieved bonus points and Molloy will want more bonus points. After seasons in the doldrums this is heady stuff and the home supporters are looking forward to the journey continuing.
Player of the Match was a hard call again. First, a word for the front row. Playing there is a tough job and any weaknesses are hammered. Today Mat Roots, Will Massey and Moose Murray stood their ground against a notoriously aggressive Park House front row and wore them down. In my short list for top dog I had Puddy, Roots, Murray, Massey, McMurray, Flatman,and Fell but I’m back on the fence as I couldn’t pick between Ollie Brooks who was like a battering ram in the centre and Adam Tolman who floated through the game on a higher level than anybody else and in the pack Rob Hudson who was terrific in the line-out, loose play and always there supporting the ball carrier. But best of all it was just good to see the smiles back on the faces of players and supporters. The boys had bounced back!

Squad:
R Lama, M Roots, W Massey, M Murray, B Flatman, J McMurray, R Hudson, R Puddy, J Johnson, W Turner, B Edwards, A Tolman, S Evans, B Brooks, O Brooks, J Morton, S Fell, C Petley