Folkestone Scoreline Flatters Gs U14s

Still missing Zac and Josh C(holiday), Espen(broken arm), Shay(awol) and a late bout of "Man Flu" for Harry B, Gs took on Folkestone with 4 changes available. Gs made their intentions known early on with a try after 1'26". Gs had kicked off the match, but a Folks knock on led to an early Gs scrum, 2 strong rucks later and the ball through the backs hands to Josh S, who scored in the corner, leaving a tough conversion for Tye who narrowly missed in the strong breeze. 5-0 Gs! A second try came in the 11th minute from a Gs penalty, awarded for a high Folks tackle about 30m out from the Folks try line. A quick tap, couple of passes and into the hands of Ben C, who scored about 10m in from touch. Tye converted. 12-0 Gs! The last 8 minutes of the 1st period was pretty neutral and the only play which merited a mention was a 25 yard maul by Gs pack.

The second period started where the last had finished, with a Folks lineout on the Gs 22m line. Jacob S won the lineout ball, but the Gs ball was turned over in the resultant ruck about 30m out, Folks ran it back to our 25, but their failure to release the ball after the tackle led to a Gs penalty. The tap penalty found its way to Jo B, who ran it a full 70m, side-stepping 3 tackles, before scoring wide on the left side. Tye made another good conversion in the strong wind and Gs advantage stretched to 19-0, a minute into the 2nd period. Gs fourth try came under 5 minutes later, following another good Gs ruck and some quick hands to Nathan who ran in from halfway putting the ball down under the posts. Tye converted, 26-0. 3 minutes later, and the Gs(and indeed Nathan)scored again. Gs turned over ball in the ruck 10m into our own half and ran it back through 4 pairs of hands to Nathan, who scored in the corner, leaving another tough conversion into the swirling wind. Tye made it and the score went to 33-0 at half time. Under 3 minutes after the restart, it was 40-0. Folks lineout 20m from Gs line was judged not straight and Gs were given the scrum. The ball ended once more in the hands of a rampant Jo B, who made a full 75m scoring under the posts. Ned stepped up to take the conversion and scored. The second 20m period finished with the score at 40-0.

The 3rd period continued in the same vein, yielding an early Gs try, this time from Ben C. Folks had a scrum 15m out from their own try line. Gs won the ball against the head and passed the Ball to Ben C who ran the remaining yards, scoring wide left and leaving another tough ask of Tye. The conversion sailed wide and Gs advantage became 45-0. 7 minutes into the last period and Gs scored again. Folks lineout on the halfway line was won by Gs, through some quick hands to Ben C, who scored under the posts. Stan D stepped forward to take the kick, which whilst straight, wasn't easy with the ever strengthening wind. He struck it sweet and Gs went 52-0 up. Ben D completed the "Bens try hat trick"in the 12th minute of the final period. Collecting the ball inside his own 15m, he ran the full length of the field, placing the ball under the posts for an easy conversion for Tye. 59-0! With the rain now bordering on the torrential and the scoreline one-sided, the next score was likely to be the last. It was to be Gs again! 30m from our own line, Ben M caught the ball from the Folks lineout, offloaded to Jo B, who side-stepped two tackles before offloading to Tye, who made the remaining 50m, scoring under the posts and converting. With 4 minutes to go, everyone cold and wet and the score at 66-0, the referee called time.

An excellent performance by Gs, whose rucking was again so much better than previous weeks and resulted in turnover ball that combined with some missed tackles by Folks and few, if any, from Gs was the difference that led to such a one-sided scoreline. Special mention must go to Jo B, not just for his two long range tries, but for the 3 try-saving tackles he made as fullback against a strong Folks centre. Again this week, the whole pack worked their socks off and gave the backs so many opportunities. Connor and Nathan were brilliant again in securing turnover ball. Luke had a fine game after a few weeks missing, as did all the Ben's. Every man played his part! Next week will be a very tough match against a large, strong and well-drilled Maidstone, but I am confident that a performance like today's will secure success again. Well done lads! Finally thanks to Dave Norman, our referee, for an excellent performance.