Folkestone ladies travelled up the M25 to play Sutton and Epsom, their third league game of the season. Having only 10 players available for the game ahead was the first challenge. But a very sporting performance from Sutton and Epsom allowed the playing field to be levelled as they agreed to only field 10 players, but they still had 6 subs which was a task the Folkestone ladies had to tackle.

The game started with relentless attacking and possession for the first 10 minutes from the Sutton and Epsom forwards. Eventually a dummy pass from the outside centre saw her scoring under the posts, converted. The Stones' ladies responded with some attacks which asked questions of the home defence, but unfortunately came to no effect. A bad injury to a Sutton and Epsom player saw the game moved to another pitch where the teams waited for at least 20 minutes till the game could continue.

Was this the moment where Folkestone finally switched on? Unfortunately not, a solid Sutton and Epsom scrum saw them go down the blindside and score a converted try; 14-0. Folkestone responded from the kick off forcing a knock on. A wheeling Folkestone scrum saw Sammy Parker stepping one player and being half tackled, then offloading to Nicole Matthews who ran over a defender to put Scarlett “moneybags” Millen in to finish off the move. Not converted; 14-5. Sutton and Epsom replied with a barrage of attacks which saw Folkestone camped 5 meters away from their try line; they defended the try line by holding the ball up twice and intercepting a try scoring pass but tackled back over the try line. Eventually the pressure was too much and the Sutton and Epsom ladies went blind again to score, converting to make it 21-5.
Half time arrived; Folkestone had left a lot of work to do after the first half. It left Keith Woodward pulling out what little hair he had left! The coaches knew Folkestone where better than this.

The Second half started and behold the ladies had finally got off the minibus and started to play some beautiful flowing rugby. Ten minutes passed and Sutton where under immense pressure from the blitzing defence of Folkestone in both the tight and the loose. A turnover ruck saw Flick McCrohan bursting down the left wing with a wonderful offload to Scarlett “moneybags” Millen which she finished under the posts; converted for 21-12. Straight from the kick off Folkestone provided some quick ball which saw Nicole Matthews break the line with some savage handoffs to put herself under the posts making the score 21-17. Once again from the kick off a burst down the right flank saw Hannah Daw in for a try, only for the referee to disallow it for a foot in touch. This spurred the Folkstone girls on even more and seeing a move from a solid Folkestone scrum, Scarlett Millen and Nicole Matthews were once again involved, they reversed play down the blind side where Scarlett Millen stepped in and left the covering defender in no man’s land to make the score 21-22. Folkestone leading for the first time in the game; can they hold onto it?

The kick off once again saw Caroline Hurley offload to Hannah Daw with an opportunity to score from the half way, Hannah opened up and left the Sutton and Epsom girls for dead and scored in the right hand corner; 21-27. For the last five minutes Sutton and Epsom showed they were not going down without a fight and were camped 5 meters away from the Stones try line. Attack after attack Folkestone repelled with some outstanding defending by Julie Bloomfield doing anything to prevent them crossing the line and potentially winning the game! Finally they broke the line and knocked the ball over the line, Megan Rogers kicked the ball out of play saving Folkestone from sure defeat. By this time Keith Woodward had no hair left, finally after several scrums the score ended 21-27.

Folkestone Ladies should be very proud of their determination that allowed them to come away with the win. It was a fantastic performance by everyone and a win was truly deserved. Special mention must go to Flick McCrohan who played very well in her debut rugby match; she certainly had a few spectators fooled into thinking she was a regular. Stones would like to thank Sutton and Epsom for being so sporting and displaying the true spirit of rugby.

Ladies Team: Julie Bloomfield, Hannah Daw, Caroline Hurley, Yas Matthews, Nicole Matthews, Flick McCrohan, Scarlett Millen, Sammy Parker, Amber Regardsoe, Megan Rogers

Folkestone Rugby Club

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