Under 9's v Thanet with Ash and Dover

A belated report – blame the weather.

Folkestone Under 9’s arrived in Thanet with enough players to put two good teams out, help out Ash who were short on numbers and help the home team Thanet put two teams out too. Thomas Kedwell stepped up to help Ash v Dover first giving his recovery from a broken arm a thorough test.

Teams were split into Folkestone ‘Whites’ and Folkestone ‘Greens’ and all coaches agreed to the matches running a little longer than normal to give all sides some extended match practise.

Whites were up first against Thanet’s ‘Blue’ Team and got back into old Folkestone habits by lacking focus at the beginning and quickly falling behind to two Thanet tries. Cameron Brown, who dislikes losing even more than most, decided enough was enough and provided the spur for a comeback with some determined runs, the second of which produced a good try. Thanet came back at Folkestone and increased their lead to 3-1 before Joseph Faiers ran in his first try of the day and reduce Thanet’s lead. Thanet scored again to take what looked like a winning lead but the Stone’s did not give up and Faiers escaped Thanet’s tackling for a second time to pull the game back to 3-4. Folkestone then upped their determination in the tackle, giving Thanet no time on the ball and forcing a turnover which Folkestone took advantage of with some determined driving forward before Faiers completed his hat-trick by running in Folkestone’s fourth in the last play of the match to ensure honours finished even.

Folkestone Greens played Thanet’s ‘Gold’ Team next and like the Whites fell behind but then quickly got into their stride with Miles Gray showing that a breakfast of croissants may be more effective than three shredded wheat with a particularly good scoring performance. Gray’s first try brought Stones level, then Thanet and the Stones traded tries with Gray adding three more to bring the scores level. Folkestone’s determined tackling by all of the team and (this doesn’t get written much) good passing paid off with Folkestone gaining possession for the final play of the match and Kian Supple shrugging off Thanet tackles and driving over the line to give the young Stones an excellent 5-4 victory.

Folkestone Whites then took the field against Ash and whilst the match was close at the beginning, Stones soon began playing with strength and determination and opened up a 3-1 lead with all tries coming from Faiers. Folkestone then drove forward deep in Ash territory before Thomas Cloke burst through with good support to increase Folkestone’s lead. Folkestone continued to drive well with Tristan Parmenter, TJ Leather, Archie Green and Lewis Hammerton all tackling forcefully, giving Ash little time in possession and forcing turnover. Faiers added another 'Faiers special' breakaway try before Thomas Reina, who had been defending well throughout, drove hard through Ash’s defence for a 6-2 lead. Cloke, now with the bit between his teeth, drove over the line for his second try and Folkestone’s last of the game in a magnificent 7-2 victory.

Folkestone Green’s had a really tough and long game next against Dover. Dover were a hard side to break down and tackled determinedly throughout. Folkestone traded blows at the start, Dover taking the lead then Supple crossing the line to equal the scores. Folkestone couldn’t get through the Dover defence despite some really determined play from all of the team which saw them coming close on several occasions. Folkestone’s defence also proved difficult to penetrate with all players working together to quell strong Dover attacks. Dover did battle through the Folkestone defence though and wound up 4-1 winners, the 3 try gap slightly flattering Dover who were deserved winners nonetheless despite a massive Folkestone effort.

Folkestone Whites squeezed in a final short game against Thanet, again going 2-0 behind due to some good running by the Thanet players from the start coupled with some sloppy Stones defending. Faiers reduced arrears to 2-1 before an obliging gap in the Stone’s defence allowed Thanet to extend their lead. Folkestone were then in the ascendency and enjoyed most of the possession giving Faiers the opportunity to run in another try before time ran out for the Stones, Thanet winning 3-2.

All the young Stones played extremely well throughout the morning with defensive work and discipline showing a vast improvement from previous weeks. All matches were played in an excellent spirit and were very competitive and a special mention should be made of our players helping out the opposition teams, they didn’t just make up the Ash and Thanet numbers, they put in tremendous effort to help their temporary teammates along.

Great stuff from the Under 9’s, more to come!

Under 9’s Squad:

Cameron Stannard, Alfie Dove, Toby Walton, Leon Santer, Benjamin Povah, Megan Pickering, Miles Gray, Kian Supple, Joseph Faiers, Tristan Parmenter, Archie Green, Billy Evans, Lewis Hammerton, TJ Leather, Thomas Reina, Thomas Cloke, Cameron Brown, Thomas Kedwell, Kieran