Chatham Town beat Folkestone Invicta in emphatic style this afternoon, making it 11 games unbeaten and moving into the play-off places in doing so.

The game started well for Folkestone as they looked more like the home side as in the fifth minute a Joe Turner free kick into the area saw Joel-Michael Odeniran head just wide.

In the next minute another Turner free kick into the area saw Marvel Ekpiteta’s effort tipped over the bar by Joe Wright. In the 18^th minute in a rare Chatham attack they opened the scoring when Freddie Sears picked up a loose ball turned and from 25 yards saw his shot beat Jonathan Henly, into the top right-hand corner and what a goal it was.

Just before the half hour mark Chatham boss Kevin Hake got sent from the bench after stopping Folkestone take a throw quickly and what ensued was a bit of a mass mele.

In the 27th minute Chatham nearly increased their lead when a Jack Evans free kick put Jordy Mongoy through, and he beat Frankie Morgan and from an acute angle lobbed Henly, but it ended up on top of the net although embarrassingly Chatham thought they had scored when the music came on.

In the 37th minute Chatham nearly doubled their lead when a ball forward saw Rowan Libard put John Ufuah through, but his shot was deflected for a corner. 

A minute later Chatham had a scare when another Turner free kick into the area saw the ball bounce around the area before being half cleared to the edge of the area, but the shot went over.

Then in the 41^st minute Folkestone got their deserved equalise when Matthias Fanimo put Turner into the area and from 10 yards slipped the ball past Wright.

This saw the stadium go quiet but three minutes later Chatham were back in front when Kasim Aidoo on the overlap saw his deflected cross go to Sears who controlled it, lobbed to the back post where Rowan Libard was, and he headed in from three yards.

Half time arrived and Folkestone could count themselves unlucky to be down while Chatham would be happier with the lead in what was a tight game.

The second half saw Chatham dominate the game as Folkestone were forced to chase the game, which left plenty of room for Chatham on the counterattack.

In the 49^th minute Ufuah passed to Sears who went forward and saw his shot from 20 yards deflect for a corner.  In the 54^th minute Chatham scored when an Evans corner into the mix bounced around and Sears stabbed home from three yards.

Another goal came in the 75^th minute when the ball was crossed into the area bounced around and this time Ufuah stabbed home from three yards game over.

In the 90^th minute it could have been five when Mongoy down the right crossed low into the path of Kareem Isiaka but from 12 yards he blasted over the bar.

As the final whistle went Chatham were ecstatic with the result as they moved into fifth place in the league and above rivals Dartford.

 Chatham Town:

1. J.Wright      2. M.Scarlett  3. K.Aidoo   4. J.Robins  5. R.Butler (84)  8. J.Evans (80)  9. R.Libard (80)

10.  F.Sears (89)  15. S.Cooper  17. J.Mongoy  20. J.Ufuah (90)

Subs Used: 7. S.O’keefe (80)  16. K.Isiaka (80)  6. S.Nelson (84)  14. S.Sene Richardson (89)  18. K.Anokye Boadi (90)

Subs Not Used: All Used

Bookings: 4. J.Robins (70)  6. S.Nelson (90+3)

        Folkestone Invicta:

1. J.Henly      2.G.Hoyte  3. F.Morgan (75)  4. J-M Odeniran  5. M.Ekpiteta  6. A.Kassarate  7. D.Rance

8.   S.Blackman (80)  9. D.Smith  10. M.Fanimo (65)  11. J.Turner

Subs Used: 16. T.Derry (65)  12. S.Smith (75)  14. T.Anderson (80)

Subs Not Used: 13. D.Kennedy  15. K.Da Costa

Bookings: 3. F.Morgan (73)  4. J-M Odeniran (87)

Referee: Mr J.Woodman

Assistants: Mr A.Mckay And Mr K.Kikulwe

Att: 1771

Images courtesy of Chatham Town