A truly great start to the new year which the boys were itching for.

Dover U14 10 Folkestone U14 30

Sunday 29th January 2017 Report by Terry Holt.

After turning up early we were informed that our kick off time had been brought forward by 1/2 an hour. A quick warm up and the boys were raring to go. Three players made their first starts of the season and one his debut Theo Mead-Topley, George James, Oscar Hughes and Leon Gurr after proving themselves consistently in training.

So the whistle blows and Folkestone receive the ball attacking up hill. Unfortunately this leads to a turn over and Folkestone are put on the back foot. Even with some good defence Folkestone were pushed back and were quickly 5-0 down. So as all season we kept our heads high and took the kick off and chased down the ball. Folkestone regained the ball and doing the simple things well we went through the hands which lead to Oscar Hughes scoring in the corner 5-5. Now with confidence high Folkestone went straight back on the attack and again the ball moved seamlessly out to the wing and again Oscar Hughes ran the ball into the corner and Folkestone took the lead 5-10. Unfortunately Folkestone could not hold the lead and again conceded leaving it honours shared 10-10 at half time.

The start of the second half and Folkestone went straight back at Dover. The pack put on an immense display throughout the game winning numerous scrums against the head. This lead to the third try where after securing the ball in the scrum Tom Cloke picked the ball up and ran down the blind side to put Folkestone back into the lead 10-15. This just seemed to give Folkestone even more energy and focus. Yet another scrum was awarded and Folkestone's dominance in this area shone through which gave the backs a superb platform to run in the fourth try scored by Toby Yemm. 10-20. Folkestone then received the ball from the kick off and ran it straight back at Dover to score a Fifth try in the corner by Ethan Bailey. 10-25. Even with this dominant performance Dover were still keen to run the ball but just could not penetrate the Folkestone defence. Then with seconds to go and Folkestone camped on Dover's try line the ball came loose and Martin ?? pounced to touch down for Folkestone's Sixth try. Final Score: 10-30.

A truly great start to the new year which the boys were itching for. A great Debut from Oscar Hughes getting a brace of try's. But undoubtably the man of the match was Tom Cloke who has really grown into the No. 9 shirt and had an outstanding game. That said each and every young man put a shift in today showing how much this squad has grown and what they are capable of achieving.

Next week we are away to Sittingbourne and at the club training on Wednesday.

Team: Cameron Easby, Dominic Bowden, Alfie Dove, Ethan Holt, Theo Mead-Topley, Martin ??, Lewis Hammerton (Capt.), Ethan Bailey, Tom Cloke, Cameron Brown, George James, Tristan Parmenter, Oscar Hughes, Leon Gurr, Harry Wells.

Subs: Steven Godden, Kieran Dorrell, Jaden Lucken, Max Pavitt, Toby Yemm, Yusef Aziz.
Scorers: Oscar Hughes 5, 5; Tom Cloke 5; Toby Yemm 5; Ethan Bailey 5; Martin ?? 5.