There have been many a close tussle between the two sides in the past, but Heath gained promotion in 2016 – clung on to their place for a couple of years before demotion last season. It was a problem to know which side Heath had brought to Folkestone – the one that beat the high-flying Ashford, or the one that lost to lowly Uckfield!

Folkestone were made to work hard but victory was earned albeit by a narrower margin than was less than comfortable as the tenth minute of stoppage time was entered. Injuries to key players, Freddy Faiers and Callum Palmieri were a setback but with large gaps in the fixture list looming, hopes for quick recoveries are realistic.

The Stones took up attacking positions early on as Heath fed them with long defensive kicks and then were able to resist the follow up attacks. Kieran Smith led the first real onslaught on the opponent’s line with a determined charge before passing to Callum Palmieri who, with a nicely weighed kick to the line, saw Freddy Faiers just failing to prevent a touch in goal.

Thomo Murray was the next to cross the line, having been fed a short pass by John Eustace – but the referee saw it as forward, but did not say by how many millimetres! A lucky let-off for Heath!!

The Stones held territorial advantage for the larger part of a closely contested first half, and whilst it was clear that Heath had some attacking threats it was equally evident that Folkestone defence had the measure of them their backs had the speed and ability to keep forcing Heath backwards. Heath were prone to kick whenever they could, but this only served to set them up for more tiring defensive work.

Liam Trinder and Alex Price were working well together, and Jordan Godden and Callum Palmieri tried to create opportunities for Jon Morton and John Eustace, but moves were blocked or frustrated by minor infringements. James Archer was rewarded when he grabbed the opponent’s ball in a line out and released his backs again for another foray into the red zone, eventually frustrated.

Freddy Faiers had the crowd cheering as he fielded a long kick and, avoiding two strong tackle attempts, set off cross-field at a pace no-one could catch – straightening when he reached the right wing and then shot down the line before being high-tackled into touch, 3 metres way from the try line, but the line-out was lost.

A 0 – 0 score line after 40 minutes of Folkestone rugby is unusual, especially as Folkestone had the ideas and opportunities but their failure to capitalise on them was worrying. Heathfield had but one clear chance late in the half, – a missed penalty attempt from 35 metres.

Mat Roots and Jeremie Cowell were brought on after half time, whilst Kieran Smith and James Archer went off.

A penalty awarded against Folkestone in a scrum where the Heath prop was standing up after boring in seemed harsh, but it stretched the Folkestone defence before a clearance kick put play away from danger. Then the game sparked into life when Folkestone forced play with a powerful forwards drive into the 22 metres zone – Jordan Godden broke clear and went straight and strong with two men on his back and still managed to release it to the running backs - Palmieri, Morton, Eustace and finally Seyhan Fell – crossing over from the left wing to the right wing – creating the extra man, and the try was scored in the corner. 5 – 0.

Freddy Faiers went down with a tweaked ham string and Dan Hillier came on to his wing. But Folkestone were beginning to show signs of confidence. A penalty was neatly placed into touch – the line out was won, a forward drive created – Scotty Stewart came clear, passing to Palmieri and the ball moved very quickly through Morton and Eustace and finally to Seyhan Fell who again craftily created that extra man that Heath could not defend as he ran though under the posts, to convert his own try and see the score register at 12 – 0.

The final quarter of the game was largely in the hands of the visitors as they mounted attacks in the Folkestone line. Two kicks from deep defence were charged down and then the ball was stolen whilst in hand which had Folkestone off-balance and Heath were able to run it over in the corner – and a good conversion attempt as just too far away to reach the crossbar. 12 – 5.

A massive moment of relief for Folkestone quickly followed as they attacked down the left wing and lost the ball. It was snapped up and a fast, speculative, 80 metre run down the touchline by Heath somehow avoided the white line and the defence. Rob Godden, seeing the danger from centre field, charged across to cover and hauled the man down 3 metres from the try line with no-one else to prevent a run round seven pointer.

Heath continued with a series of attacks in the red zone and Folkestone were put to all out defence. Mat Roots tried a run and Connor Leather ran into a wall, but it was Tom Snare and the back row of Liam Trinder, Alex Price and Scotty Stewart who held firm whilst John Eustace put in two crashing tackles to stop moves instantly and most effectively.

Callum Palmieri limped off in stoppage time after gamely carrying on with an injured hip but Kieran Smith stepped in as stoppage time neared 10 minutes before Folkestone won a scrum and kicked the ball into the car park – not to be found, but who cared – the final whistle went to the relief of the players, the coaching staff and the home crowd.

Team: Seyhan Fell (Capt.); Freddie Faiers, Jon Morton, John Eustace, Thomo Murray; Callum Palmieri, Jordan Godden; Tom Snare, Connor Leather, James Archer; Rob Godden, Kieran Smith; Scotty Stewart, Alex Price. Liam Trinder.

Subs: Mat Roots, Jeremie Cowell, Daniel Hillier.

Scorers: Seyhan Fell 5, 5, 2.
Scores Try Fell, 5 – 0 (49). Try Fell 10 – 0 (58). Conv. Fell 12 – 0 (60)