Folkestone U10's (A team) at the Canterbury Tournament

Folkestone travelled to Canterbury for their annual festival on Sunday, they faced a tough group consisting of Whitstable, Thanet, Canterbury B and Dover.
Folkestone found themselves up against a very big and very powerful Whitstable in their opening game. The game started with some big hard hitting tackles made by Maddox Francis and George Foord, putting Whitstable on the back foot from the start. Some great rucking and mauling by all players and some fine tries scored by Edward Faier (3), Lucio Decicco (1), Thomas Stroud (1), Harry Dean (1) and newcomer Lewis Wade (1), Folkestone found themselves on top with a comfortable 7-1 victory.

Game 2 saw Folkestone play Thanet. After such a great first game performance, the boys went into this with hope, hope that they could make it two in a row. The boys excelled themselves yet again with an outstanding team performance. With some space and fine footwork, Edward Faier scored 3 tries. Lucio Decicco, with his power and pace earned himself a great try. To finish the game, Bradley Dorrell, with his nimble footwork, left Thanet standing and got himself on the scoreboard with the fifth try of the game. Again some great tackling from the team, with Louis Douse and Thomas Stroud showing great technique. Thanet managed to claw one back, but their fate was already sealed. Final score 5-1 to Folkestone.
For Folkestone's third game, they faced off against Canterbury B. With two wins under their belt, the boys went in with confidence. With great handling skills by Luke Baigent and Ryen Morton, the Folkestone boys got off to fast start. Some great work at the breakdown by Folkestone, soon saw the tries coming. Edward Faier grabbing himself two more superb tries and a fantastic solo effort from Lewis Wade, saw him score his second try of the day! Through sheer power and determination to cross the line with Canterbury players hanging off them, Maddox Francis and Lucio Decicco scored a further two tries giving Folkestone their third convincing win of the day. Final score 5-0 Folkestone.

The final pool game saw two rivals up against each other. Folkestone v Dover. With neither team having been defeated, both teams had everything to play for. With Folkestone playing their fourth game of the day, one more than Dover, Folkestone got off to a slow start and found themselves a try down within the first few minutes. Folkestone, for the first time all day were behind but came back fighting and with some excellent tackling from George Foord and Ryen Morton, Folkestone were back in the game. Before half time some changes were made to the team which had an instant impact. Edward Faier found his space and levelled the score. 1-1. Folkestone started dominating the game and with the help of our big guys, George Foord, Connor Horne and Maddox Francis, the game was theirs for the taking with Edward Faier once again crossing the line. His tenth for the tournament. Some hard hitting and hard flying tackles started coming Folkestone’s way, but the determination from Ryen Morton, Thomas Stroud, Luke Baigent, Connor Horne and Harry Dean saw Folkestone stay strong. Final score 2-1 Folkestone.

Folkestone topped their league with four straight wins and found themselves in the final against a very strong Canterbury A.
The game started with some great tackles and running by both teams. Folkestone found it hard at the breakdown against such a strong side, with Canterbury producing some great offloads and with finding space, Canterbury had their first try of the game. For the first time, Folkestone struggled to find space for their speedsters to work their magic. A very tired and hard working Folkestone just could not cross line. Bradley Dorrell trying his hardest to create space but Canterbury gave nothing up. The final whistle blew with a score of 2-0 to Canterbury.

I think I can safely say on behalf of all the parents and supporters, we are very proud of all the players today and we have shown some great signs for the future of Folkestone under 10's.

Team: Lucio Decicco (Captain), Edward Faier, Maddox Francis, Luke Baigent, Lewis Wade, Louis Douse, Connor Horne, Bradley Dorrell, Ryen Morton, Harry Dean, Thomas Stroud, George Foord.