Dover Under 13s (17) v (22) Folkestone Under 13s
Played at Dover on 23/12/2007
The U13s Sharks played host to their neighbours Folkestone for a Christmas
friendly on 23rd December. The young Sharks were keen to overturn the
previous record of losses that they have encountered when playing Folkestone
this season. They played strongly from the start and the first half
of the game was played mostly in Folkestone’s half with the Sharks
determined to score at every opportunity. An early try from Isaack
Goeghegan gave the Sharks the early head start and positivity they
needed. The Sharks continued to play well and it wasn’t long
before they arrived at the try line again with Tom Clark delivering
a further 5 points for the home side which he then converted. The Sharks
were now hungry for more and Oliver Latham delivered the third try
of the first half to bring the score sheet to 17 points to 0. A further
try from Oliver Latham was disallowed as it was considered to be held
up by the ref.
The second half was it would seem not the same sides playing from the
first half. Folkestone came out from the break determined to claw back
the points and scored very quickly. The young Stones dominated the
second half. The Sharks did their best to get the ball on occasion
into Folkestone’s half and there were some good kicks from Sam
Gibbs and Tom Clark but the Sharks lacked the energy in the second
half to be able to make any use of these gains. The Sharks continue
to have some difficulty playing their line compared with the young
Folkestonians who made real use of their line and found the spaces
within the Shark defences but there is definite improvement in their
game play and they are to be commended for what was a much tighter
game between the two sides. A further 2 tries and a good conversion
brought the Stones level with the home side before managing the final
try of the match within the last minute or so of the whistle being
blown. Final score Dover 17 Folkestone 22.
Under 13s playing were: Luke Allen, Joe Killick-Baker, Joe Bisset,
Jordan Caldwell, Tom Clark, Jos Crush, Robert Duffy, Shaun Fields,
Sam Gibbs, Sam Harrison, Issack Goeghegan, Aiden Harper, Oliver Latham,
Jack Smith, Kurtis Abbitt
Team Mascot: Joe Tonkin
Coach: George Clark
Reported by Dave Allen
