Tournament organiser, John Kidson, put it very succinctly just before the Shepherd Neame Spitfire Cup was presented to Stones' captains, Jack McMurray and Richard Lama by John Carley from the Kent RFU when he said, "and about bloody time too." When Folkestone last won the trophy Toby Booth , now the head coach at London Irish, was still playing for the Stones. In recent years they have been close to winning but never quite managed it. New club coach, Darren Molloy has seen his lads win a trophy and win it in style as Folkestone cruised through the Group stages to the semi final and then on to beat an excellent Ashford team. Not only were Folkestone unbeaten but nobody scored against them. In just a few short weeks Molloy has managed to put smiles on the faces of his players and also the supporters wagain turned out in large numbers to support their team.

The Spitfire Tournament has always been a friendly tournament and this year's was no different with good refereeing from John Norton, Nick Wickham and the other excellent Kent refs who allowed the games to flow. They were a credit to the Kent Referee Society.

The first game of the day saw Folkestone take on Ashford and it was a tight tense affair with Ashford playing some good rugby but unable to penetrate the home defence. It was only in the second half that Folkestone took control and they camped in the Ashford 5 metre area. One very unlucky Ashford player attempted to kick the ball clear but it went straight up in the air and then the wind took it back over the try line where the ever-cunning Leigh Fitchie was waiting and he  caught the ball and gleefully touched down. Scrum half Joe Jull added the conversion from way out on the wing and the ref blew for time. Folkestone had won buit Ashford had served notice that they wanted to win the competition. This may well be the season that Ashford earn promotion from the Kent League into the London South League and on their showing in this tournament they are going to have a good season. 7-0

Next for Folkestone was Stella Hands. The Hands are an invitational team masterminded by Del McDonough. They consist of Folkestone players past and present and some high quality players from other southern clubs. To be selected for the Hands is regarded as a great compliment and it is no surprise that there is a queue of players wanting their shirt. Here today they even managed to collect money for the Help for Heroes fund.  This year they had a strong team but a few of them are getting on so as the tournament progressed they became less of a threat but in their first game they caused Folkestone many problems with current Stones, Dan Sangiuseppe, Danny Barnes and Darren Lehmann putting in great performance as they tried to embarrass their mates in the home team.  The Hands used their considerable weight in the pack to put Folkestone on the back foot. For a long time in the first period the Hands were camped on Folkestone's 5 metre line looking for the pushover try but Stones' defence of their line was outstanding and eventually they cleared the ball. The second half saw the Folkestone backs running the ball well and their pace almost got them through but it was not until the final seconds when Adam Tolman showed his class and flair with an excellent kick downfields into the Hands 22. He chased it as it bounced over the try line and he was first to the ball but just failed to touch down. 0-0

After a short rest Folkestone took on Hastings & Bexhill who had a massive pack but this game saw what was the Stones' best performance of the day as their backs took control of the game and left their opponents clutching thin air. Firstly that man Tolman sped down the right wing for the first try. Then one of Folkestone's youngsters, Bill Silvey made a break through the heart of the hastings defence and found Ben Brooks who scored. Silvey added the conversion. Then the inspirational Jack McMurray made a break and was ably supported by Moose Murray who passed the ball on to Tolman to score again. Silvey added the conversion. Folkestone's final score came when James Woolford made a break through the centre. He carried the ball well and set it up beautifully for Silvey to take it on and he found Tolman who timed his pass perfectly for Trevor Squire to sprint in. Silvey again added the conversion. 26-0

In the final group game Folkestone took on Beccehamians. By now the Stones were in a clinical mood and with a strong pack and precision passing they scored 2 tries. The first was a drive by the home pack and jack McMurray touched down. Silvey added the conversion.

The second was a beauty with Jordan Godden making a defence splitting pass to James Woolford who showed power and balance as he swerved past a defender to score emphatically under the posts. Silvey added the conversion and the Stones were through to the semi final. 14-0. Young Godden continues to impress and looks set to join the 1st XV squad this season.

The semi finals saw Ashford take on Medway while the home team took on University Vandals. The Vandals are a team made up of players from the all conquering Under 18 squad of 2 seasons ago and who had come together again for this event. Supporters awaited this game with relish as both teams were full of pacy backs. But then the rain came down to ruin what could have been a spectacular open game of rugby, But in truth Stones' gameplan worked. They starved the students of good ball. Then they turned the screw on the youngsters on their try-line and as the Stones' pack pushed the students could only stop the drive illegally. After repeated penalties the referee awarded the penalty try and Hull converted. 7-0 and Folkestone were in the final. The "experts" (Kidson and me) were predicting a Folkestone v Medway final but Ashford who had looked so good in their matches scored 2 unanswered tries to win their semi final 10-0.

So on to the final and Folkestone looked tense as Ashford threw everything at them but again could not get past the home defence that is looking so solid. Folkestone had a couple of opportunities to score but at half time the score was still 0-0. It was looking like one score would be enough and late in the game Folkestone earned a penalty and it was good to see Seyhan Fell back at the club after a year's absence. He has always been a good kicker and despite the wind and rain he slotted the kick from 35 yards out and the cup was home again.

Meanwhile Folkestone Barbarians had reached the final of the Vase competition. The Barbarians were a mixture of players from Folkestone's 2nd, 3rd and 4th XVs playing behind the mighty Mat Roots. Roots ate up any props who came up against him but the Babas just could not turn good ball into points. They had lost all their group games and had not scored a single point but today was their lucky day as in the Vase final they were up against Hastings who had had a torrid tournament losing many players to injury. Despite their efforts to recruit some players from other teams they just could not find enough players to take part so withdrew allowing the Barbarians to enjoy a quite remarkable triumph and they went home happy with their prize of 24 bottles of beer.

So within weeks of arriving coach Molloy has seen his lads win a trophy and play some excellent rugby. He has developed a squad who are eager to play for him.There is a real air of optimism in the team that they could be fighting for promotion. Importantly, like Lee jeffery before him he has given the club's youngsters a chance to fight for 1st XV places. In this tournament we saw excellent rugby from all the youngsters. Chris Petley, Alex Randall and Josh Palmer all broke into the 1st XV squad last season. Today he had Bill Silvey and Jordan Godden make telling appearances. In recent seasons Folkestone have lost some of their youngsters to other clubs because, understandably, they wanted to play rugby at a higher standard. The club can only hope that the current crop of youngsters decide to stay loyal to their club and help their team achieve rugby of a higher standard by competing for promotion.

A quick footnote, especially to people (like me) who were disappointed to see some Folkestone players playing for Stella Hands against Folkestone but Lou and Lee Kedwell from the Hands raised £300 on Sunday with their Help for Heroes stall which is just brilliant.

Squad:
R Lama, J McMurray, T Ermel, J Cox, L Fitchie, C Sangiuseppe, D Short, M Weatherley, M Murray, J Johnson, J Woolford, A Randall, J Palmer, K Smith, J Hull, J Godden, S Harris, C Petley, W Silvey, B Brooks, J Eustace, J Morton, T Squire, S Fell, A Tolman

The Picture We Have Waited So Long To See

Well Done Lads

and Mr Kidson