On a rainy afternoon in Surrey, we rolled up our sleeves to earn a hard-fought 1-0 win against Corinthian-Casuals and took the points back to Kent. In the last four games we’ve played at King George’s Field, only one has produced more than one goal and this was again the case with David Smith scoring the all-important winner in the first half.
Invicta made one change to the squad from last week, with Scott Heard making a welcome return to the bench after receiving an injury during pre-season, and he replaced Tyler Sterling who was left out for reasons which Neil explains later in this report. Following their defeat last week, our opponents had strengthened since then and had four new signings in their squad, three of which started.
The game took a while to settle down, and Ronnie Dolan had our first attempt, but his shot was easily saved by ‘Casuals’ goalkeeper and skipper, Danny Bracken, whilst at the other end Tim Roberts dived to his right to save an effort from Kieron Cadogan. Smith then went close as following a good phase of passing the ball came to Jordan Wright whose cross was headed wide. Invicta than had a close call, when following a foul by Ian Draycott on Coskun Ekim just outside the penalty area, his free kick was deflected over the bar by the defensive wall with Roberts stranded on the other side of the goal, and from the corner Ola Williams nodded over.
With neither side really making an impression in the early stages, it was a bit of a surprise that we took the lead in the 17th minute. Following a good passing combination between Ryan Johnson, Alfie Paxman and Ade Yusuff, the latter sent in a pinpoint cross and Smith was on hand to finish from close range. Our opponents then fought back, and Ben Cheklit showed some good skill to create an opening, but Callum Davies got back with an excellent tackle to avert the danger and from the corner, the ball was eventually scrambled clear with Yusuff breaking away, but as Smith looked to race onto his pass and run clear of ‘The Casuals’ defence, he had strayed offside. Davies then picked-up the first caution of the game, when he overran the ball and his challenge to maintain possession was adjudged a foul and worthy of a card.
Johnson was again involved as he slipped the ball to Draycott, who in turn played it wide to Wright and his low cross was bravely collected low down by Bracken as Smith slid in to meet the cross. We continued to press, and Smith was unlucky to see his header deflected over the bar as he met Draycott’s cross, and from the corner Josh Vincent sent his glancing header wide of the far post. Draycott and Paxman then combined, but as the winger ran away with the ball, he was hauled down by Jack Tucker which earned his side their first booking. Dolan took the free kick and this time it was Vincent’s chance to see a header deflected over the bar. From the corner, we thought we had doubled our lead as following a goalmouth scramble, the ball was turned into the net, but the Referee had already blown his whistle having seen an infringement in the melee. That was the end of the first half action and Invicta went into the break a goal to the good, which on the balance of play was probably just about right.
For the second half, our opponents made a substitution with Ekim replaced by Warren Morgan and straightaway there was a marked improvement in their performance as Invicta were put on the back-foot in the early exchanges. Warren Mfula made a good run and cut inside before unleashing a shot from the edge of the area from which Roberts made an excellent save, tipping the ball over the bar, and from the corner, Jack Strange nodded over. Hakeem Adelakun, Cheklit and Ricardo Thompson combined, but the cross was out of reach of the incoming forwards. There was then further cause for alarm as Ola Williams played a good crossfield ball and initially Paxman did well to win the ball from Mfula, but his back-pass to Roberts was a fraction short and the goalkeeper did well to tackle the forward and the ball was eventually cleared.
Paxman then got involved at the other end as following a sweeping move up the pitch, the ball reached him on the edge of the area, but he shot wide, and then he won a corner, from which Smith nodded down from an unmarked position but the ball was cleared for another corner. Paxman was then fouled by Mfula and after a lengthy chat between the Referee and ‘The Casuals’ forward, Dolan played the ball in which was headed away for a corner and he sent in another excellent cross, but this time, Matt Newman headed wide.
In the 67th minute, Invicta made two substitutions as Kieron McCann replaced Jordan Wright and Scott Heard came on for Ian Draycott, and almost immediately, Adelakun received a yellow card for pulling Heard back. He was then perhaps a little lucky not to receive further punishment shortly after when he did the same to Paxman which convinced ‘Casuals’ Manager, James Bracken, that he may get into further trouble, and he was replaced by Will Efambe in the 76th minute.
Encouraged by an increasingly noisy and enthusiastic home support, ‘Casuals’ continued to push forward and firstly Mfula shot wide when well placed and then they won a free kick in a dangerous position, central on the edge of the area, but the defensive wall stood firm, charging down Cadogan’s kick. There was just time for two more bookings as after Paxman had been brought down by Cadogan as he was just about to slip McCann through, the Corinthian-Casual forward became the next player in the Referee’s notebook, and in the ensuing melee, Yusuff picked up Invicta’s second yellow card.
After the game, Neil was far from satisfied with the performance, saying: “Although we won, I was disappointed today that we didn’t reach the high standards that we have set ourselves recently, but today didn’t excite me. “We played well in pre-season and had a great result last week, but today we didn’t reach those heights, but we’ve got training Tuesday so we’ll go through it then and prepare for next week’s game. “It is important that we pick up these early season points otherwise we will be playing catch-up, so that is one of the positives from today. “I thought we scored a good goal and battled hard with Ade [Yussuf] once again outstanding and Tim [Roberts] looked confident and dealt with their crosses well, in addition to making a good save in the second half.”
Finally, I asked Neil why Tyler [Sterling] wasn’t in the squad, he explained “I was very disappointed with his attitude in training on Tuesday, so I left him out of the squad today and said I’d see him this Tuesday at training. “He is a very good player and could go a long way in the game, but he needs to realise to do that involves a lot of hard work. “He is of course still part of our plans and with two games in three days next weekend, we need all the squad to be fit and raring to go.”
So, that was it, not a classic, before it, Neil had said that this will be a tough game and so it proved, and although it was far from a vintage performance, this may have been a game we wouldn’t have won last season and sometimes there is the need to knuckle down to secure the points. Finally, many thanks to Corinthian-Casuals for their hospitality and we wish them well for the rest of the season.
Folkestone Invicta: Tim Roberts, Josh Vincent, Jordan Wright (Kieron McCann, 67 mins), Matt Newman, Callum Davies (Capt), Ryan Johnson, Ian Draycott (Scott Heard, 67 mins), Ronnie Dolan, David Smith, Ade Yusuff & Alfie Paxman (Unused substitutes: Finn O’Mara, Micheal Everitt & Connor Collins).
Goalscorer: David Smith (17 mins).
Corinthian-Casuals: Danny Bracken (Capt), Jack Tucker (Nathanial Pinney, 87 mins), Hakeem Adelakun (William Efambe, 76 mins), Ola Williams, Jack Strange, Ricardo Thompson, Elliott Bolton, Coskun Ekim (Warren Morgan, 46 mins), Warren Mfula, Kieron Cadogan & Ben Cheklit (Unused Substitutes: Emmanuel Mensah & Bobby Mills).
Referee: Shelby Elsan
Assistant Referees: Fabien Le Houezec & Micheal Coen.
Attendance: 321, many thanks to all the Invicta fans who went to the game this afternoon to support the team, and also to the Brazilian fans who created a great atmosphere! (Who else had a headache from their drums?!)
Next Fixture: Next Saturday (28th August), we welcome Enfield Town to the BuildKent Stadium for a Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division game, kick-off 3:00pm. Like ourselves, ‘The Towners’ have won their first two games, so it should be a cracker.