Folkestone 2nds run rampant over local rivals Dover 2nds.

Folkestone 2nds. (69) 43 Dover 2nds. 3

Saturday 25th March 2017. Shepherd Neame Premier 2 East. Report by Steve Hughes.

An excellent day for a game of rugby with a bright blue sky but a strong wind to contend with. Folkestone fielded a strong side but allowed Dover to open the scoring with a penalty. 0-3. It then took them twenty minutes to get their heads together before starting to play as a team. Thereafter for Dover it was backs against the wall trying to repel constant attacks. Although they were beaten by a superior team they held their heads up and never gave up trying.
Folkestone's first real attack came from Jack Brooks who had broken through the opposition defence and only had to chip over the full back's head to open the home score but elected to crash into him.
Dover were reduced to 14 men for a period due to an injury and Folkestone took full advantage, when Captain of the Day, Scotty Stewart found a gap and fed Ben Brooks who in turn fed his brother Jack to see him score near the posts for an unconverted try. 5-3. The home forwards went on the rampage with Scotty Stewart, Billy Monk, Joby Crystal and Josh Kemp (back from Australia) in the fore and took the play into the Dover red area where they were awarded a penalty. Taking a short tap penalty, Lewis Howland broke free and with Aaron Robbins coming though like a train scored another unconverted try. 10-3.
Billy Monk then scored a delightful solo try by breaking away from a loose maul on the 22m line to charge over for a try which Shane Hills converted to give Folkestone a 17 - 3 lead at half time.
It took a long time for Folkestone to settle down but with the forwards now controlling the loose play the three-quarters and forwards were able to run riot with tries from Lewis Howland (2), Jordan Godden, Scotty Stewart, Will Turner, a sixty metre sprint by Shane Hills plus six conversions.
The game then lapsed into a farce when the referee missed a blatant knock-on by Folkestone and everyone stopped. The referee however didn't blow his whistle and when he received some relevant advice from a Dover player he yellow carded him. In the meantime it appeared that a try had been awarded under the posts though no-one knew who had scored, but Shane Hills went ahead and converted it to give a score of 62-3.
From the kick off Josh Kemp gathered and ran through the demoralised defence to score under the posts which he converted himself. Final score 69-3. For the purposes of the League the maximum points difference is 40 pts.
The individuals in this team are obviously pushing for a place in the First XV. Having settled down after what, to the spectators, seemed an inordinately long time, they combined to thrash the unfortunate Dover side and with having missed four conversions, the score could have been nearing eighty points.

Team: Luke Simpson; Ben Brooks, Jack Brooks, Aaron Robbins, Jack Shorter; Jordan Godden, Lewis Howland; Steve Doughty, Josh Kemp, Harry Paton; Billy Monk, Joby Crystal, Cameron Seagrove, Jeremie Cowell, Scott Stewart.
Subs: Matt Roots, Will Turner.
Scorers: Jack Brooks 5; Aaron Robbins 5; Billy Monk 5; Shane Hills 2, 2, 5, 2, 2, 2, 2; Lewis Howland 5, 5; Jordan Godden 5; Scott Stewart 5; Will Turner 5; A.N. Other 5; Josh Kemp 5, 2.