The Allan Day tournament at the Allianz Park, home of Saracens RFC

Folkestone RFC Under10’s at Saracens
Saturday 20th December 2014 Report by Jon Morton

The Folkestone Under 10’s side were invited to play in the Allan Day tournament at the Allianz Park, home of Saracens RFC on Saturday. The tournament preceded the Saracens vs London Welsh game in the afternoon, which gave the young players a chance to see some of their favourite premiership players play in person.
The squad arrived in plenty of time, allowing them to soak up the atmosphere in the 10,000 seater stadium and familiarise themselves with the state of the art 4G pitch. Folkestone drew themselves in a tough group, against Saracens, Old Northamptians and last year’s winners Huntingdon.

The first game against Saracens was a tough encounter as expected, but Folkestone played a standard of controlled rugby beyond their years, allowing them to dominate the ruck area and use their passing skills effectively. The final score in this game was 6-3 to Folkestone, with George Ford scoring twice, as well as Oscar McDonald, Lewis Wade, Harry Dean and Connor Horne all bagging themselves a try in Folkestone’s first win at any level against Saracens.

Our second game was against a strong Huntingdon side who were surprised with the physicality and intensity of the Folkestone side. Huntingdon conceded a number of penalties as they were unable to cope with the standard of the rucking from the green and whites, which allowed Folkestone to run out 7-2 winners. Harry Dean and Lucio Deccico grabbed themselves two tries each, as George Ford and Oscar McDonald got themselves another, and Ryen Morton got the reward for his hard work as he also crossed the line.

The final game of the day was against Old Northamptians, and the way Folkestone were playing no one would bet against them winning this one. While the game was close, it was evident Folkestone were hungrier for the win, and it was in this game we saw the best passing display of the day. Folkestone’s discipline allowed them to hold their width, enabling William Hanna, Lewis Wade, Harry Dean and Lucio Decicco to all score in a 4-1 win.

Folkestone won their group, which means they must travel back to Saracens in April to play in the finals. It is anticipated this will be at half time in front of the sell out crowd. Needless to say, all parents, coaches and members of Folkestone Rugby Club are proud of the boys achievements, and wish them the best of the luck in the finals!

Squad: Lucio Decicco (captain), Harry Dean, Ryen Morton, Oscar McDonald, Jim Duncan, Lewis Wade, Bradley Dorrell, William Hanna, Maddox Francis, Louis Douse, George Ford, Connor Horne.