Kane Rowland’s first goal for Invicta made it three away wins for Invicta as they outclassed a Stortford side who not previously been beaten on their own ground with draws against two decent sides in Dorking Wanderers and Leatherhead.

Manager Neil Cugley’s decision to give Rowland the number 10 shirt in place of the suspended Ade Yusuff paid off with Yusuff there to see his stand-in win the game for the visitors – a terrific example of the team spirit in this good Folkestone squad.

Clipped on the corner of the box Rowland was alert to collect the ball from a good pass out wide and beat keeper Calum Kitcsha with a fine finish from a relatively tight angle with only eight minutes of the clock.

Fussy referee Conor Farell does appear to believe that even the slightest physical contract warrants a free-kick, but rightly booked the Blues big defender Toib Adeyene who was replaced not long after that incident, with a second deserved booking handed out to another offender as the game wore on.

Folkestone dominated the opening half with Alfie Paxman’s superb free-kick desperately pushed up on to the bar and Invicta looked for a second goal.

The visitors’ movement up front was well up to its normal excellent level wit Johan Ter Horst and Kieron McCann both again playing well.

At the other end of the park, keeper Tim Roberts did everything that could have been asked of him, the only time he was beaten seeing ex-Premiership striker Jamie Cureton being ruled offside.

Folkestone’s supremacy was not reflected in this scoreline, but the comfort of the win was underlined as their normally reticent boss gave his three used substitutes plenty of time to impress – including the experienced Phil Starkey who put his holiday behind him and provided just the calming presence needed as Invicta comfortably wound down the clock to stay fifth in the Bostik Premier Division table with 12 points from their five games played.

A pleasant day out at one of the better of the modern stadiums on our itinerary this season, a good performance, the right result and all’s right with the world.

Folkestone Invicta: Roberts; Aboagye, Blanks, Vincent (Starkey), Davies, Evans, Paxman (Hasler), Dolan, Ter Horst (Draycott), Rowland, McCann

Subs not used: Shaw, Everitt

Referee: Conor Farell

Attendance: 339