Westcombe Park RFC 2nd XV 34-38 Folkestone RFC

Visitors Folkestone only led twice in a high scoring match, briefly in the first half and then most importantly with only two minutes on the clock to leave their hosts with 2 bonus points rather than the victory.
Combe scored three well taken tries in the first period. Long striding centre Johnathon Ilori got the first after only a couple of minutes, showing a burst of sustained pace which left the defence gasping. Chris Payne scored the second after sustained pressure and good ball handling from his fellow backs finishing the move out left. The third was perhaps the pick of the bunch when Combe player of the match scrum half Mikel Davies burst through from halfway evading tackles and showing great physicality to offload to wing Victor Nzolele who dotted down under the posts.
Folkestone had scored a couple of tries of their own; one after a run down the left touchline when Combe fell off a couple of lineouts and the second down the narrow side following a strong line out drive. After this exchange of tries Combe’s Davies added a penalty to his two conversions to give Combe a 22-12 lead at the half time whistle.

The second half got underway with a bang when wing Nzolele beat at least five opponents with some dazzling footwork but sadly the move came to naught. Folkestone narrowed the gap to 22-19 when they were awarded a penalty try for a Combe high tackle. Westcombe Park then restored the gap when lock Marty Edmeades took advantage of a couple of effective offloads to score Combe’s bonus point try. 27-19 to WPRFC.

But the nature of the game was such that Folkestone pulled it back to 27-26 after a close quarters try by the visitors. Yet again Combe bounced back and a Dan Shergold score created by another break by Davies made it 36-26 as Davies added the conversion. But the last word went to Folkestone as they scored on 64 and 78 minutes to win by 34-38.

That win puts Folkestone back to the top of the Kent Counties 2nd Division table as they seek promotion following last season’s relegation. Combe slip one place back to second. Next week third placed Park House are the visitors.