Stones U13s so close to a win against Canterbury 'Devel' Team

A near full complement of players meant coach Kevin had to nearly split the group into 2 teams, a first half and second half team with a few set to play the whole game.

The game started with Folkestone immediately making sure Canterbury knew this wouldn't be a walk over, forcing Canterbury to defend from the kick off. Canterbury though broke loose and ran in a straightforward try; the Folkestone boys were not ready to drop their heads. With the Folkestone players putting their all into the game, the rucking continued to pay off and Folkestone soon had points on the board after a strong ruck, straight off the training pitch had the ball bundled over the line by David Gunn. Canterbury immediately retaliated after an unusually poor line out from the Stones, quickly moving the ball out wide to run in another Canterbury score.

The game soon settled into a rhythm with the Folkestone boys performing well, and it wasn’t long before more action lead to another score. Again from a set piece, this time a line out, ball to David Gunn triggering a maul with the forwards propelling the maul forwards, the ball coming out to Barney Mackenzie with a smart offload to Jason Baker who nimbly skipped the tackles to score for Folkestone.

Folkestone again took advantage at the line out with David getting the ball over the line for yet another try assisted by Barney. The first half ended with Canterbury 12 points ahead on the board, on the field there was nothing to choose form between the 2 teams.

The second half saw the foretold changes from both teams. This time it's Folkestone's turn to get an early score, from a ruck the ball coming out to Pratik who skipped through the Canterbury defence to put the ball down between the post giving Patrick Matthews an easy conversion.
Folkestone continued to place Canterbury under pressure, keeping the home side pegged back within 10 metres of their try line. The pressure paid off, when trying to find a release Canterbury kicked the ball high only to be superbly caught by Finley Pleace, who then jinks through for a good solo try.
Folkestone were now winning, thanks to a second try from Pratik; the training ground routines clearly paying dividends.

With Canterbury playing their Development team they were forced to bring on more A team players to counter the new threat from Folkestone; the difference was felt quickly with Canterbury bringing the score back by another try. Jason added to the list of try scorers, following on from stronger breakdown play, collecting the ball from a ruck at the halfway point, sprinting half the length of the pitch to score. Patrick Matthews once again ably converting.

The game was finished off with 2 tries from Canterbury snatching Folkestone's victory away just minutes from the end. For the Folkestone lads this match should be as sweet as a victory, pushing an accomplished side to the last moments of the game.

Final score: 44-39
Folkestone Try Scorers: David (2), Jason (2), Pratik (2), Finley. Conversions Patrick (2)

The entire squad is developing into a strong force. Each week the players pick up the momentum, tackling is distributed across the team. Noah Reynolds, Barney Mackenzie and Tom Davey all had strong tackling games this week as did Jason Baker, Aiden Fagg and David Gunn.

Squad: Mason Colchester-Long, Luke Archer, Josh Mantle, Thomas Norris, Jacob Ashby, Theo Faulkner, Aidan Fagg, Nick Mitchell, Sam Adams, Shay Buss, Alex Cooke, David Gunn, Barney Mackenzie, Jason Baker, Patrick Matthews, Ben Jeffery, Ben Fairclough, Noah Reynolds, James Lawrie, Rory Hards, Jake Baker, Ryan Weston, Finley Pleace, Tom Davey, and Pratik