On a dark, dank, drizzly afternoon, Invicta squeezed past South East Division Faversham Town to reach the Buildbase F.A. Trophy Second Round, winning 2-1, although really the game should have been won by half-time, but a number of good chances went begging and then our opponents caused concern as they weathered the storm and came back in the second half.  

There was a surprise in the Invicta line-up as Matt Newman made a return to the centre of the defence having appeared to suffered a knee injury last week, which initially looked as if he was going to be out for quite a long while, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Newman replaced Draycott in the only change from the team that lost at Carshalton Athletic as Jordan Wright wasn’t quite ready having taken a fitness test. Our opponents made two changes from the starting line-up that had lost 1-0 at Burgess Hill Town last Tuesday, with Tyrell Richardson-Brown and D’Jean Spencer replacing Benedict Bioletti and Onoriode Ogboe (who were both on the bench).     

Invicta made a determined start and immediately put pressure on ‘The Lilywhites’ defence as Alfie Paxman saw his shot charged down and when he returned the ball back into the box, it was cleared. However, we didn’t have to wait too long for the first goal, Paxman was again involved as he played the ball to David Smith who in turn passed to Ronnie Dolan and his dangerous low cross was turned in at the far post by Kieron McCann, after six minutes.

Within a minute, our opponents should have been back on terms, as D’Jean Spencer broke down the left and having gone round Tim Roberts, although he was pushed wide, he fed Tyrell Richardson-Brown, but with the goal at his mercy, he failed to make a proper connection which allowed Newman to clear it off the line. Invicta then broke away and at the other end Faversham Town goalkeeper, Luke Watkins, made an excellent save to deny Dolan. 

It seemed to be only a matter of time before we added a second, Ade Yusuff played an excellent ball to McCann whose cross was met by Smith but as he went to shoot, Joe Denny made an excellent blocking tackle, which left Smith on the floor, but fortunately he was fit to continue. Paxman then saw his cross parried out by Watkins, but when the ball was sent back into the box, Scott Heard, under pressure from a defender, shot over from around six yards. Smith and Dolan then combined to set-up the latter, but he delayed his shot, and the chance was lost. Although Invicta were on top, our opponents were still looking dangerous on the break and after Richardson-Brown had made a good run down the left, his cross reached Emmanuel Oluwasemo who couldn’t make a clean connection which allowed the ball to be cleared for a corner, from which Paxman was fouled and the danger was averted.

McCann then fed the ball to Yusuff who saw his first shot charged down, although he then sent in a second which was wide of Watkins’ left-hand post from outside the area. Dolan then almost put Heard through on goal, but his ball over the defence was just a fraction hard and Watkins collected. Invicta continued to pile forward as Paxman slipped Yusuff through, but he was denied as Watkins came out and made a good save, deflecting the ball away for a corner, from which Josh Vincent headed over. Our opponents then reminded us that they were still in the game, as Donvieve Jones made an excellent run down the left, but Richardson-Brown failed to hit the target, heading wide when well placed. 

Invicta were playing a good tight pressing game, and this was epitomised by Ryan Johnson, who won the ball from Eddie Allsop and played it to Smith, who was scythed down by Allsopp as he played a pass to Yusuff, the Referee played a good advantage which allowed the striker to close in on goal but once again Watkins was equal to the task, making another good save. Allsopp may have counted himself a little fortunate that the Referee didn’t go back to him and issue a yellow card for the tackle.

We then conceded a free kick some thirty yards out as Callum Davies was adjudged to have handled the ball, Allsopp stepped up, but he blasted the ball over the bar. Paxman then lost the ball on the edge of the Faversham Town area, and Jones again broke away, this time his cross was cleared by Vincent for a corner, Allsopp sent it in low, which wasn’t cleared cleanly and as the ball bobbled around, Richardson-Brown again failed to connect, and the ball went to safety. Allsopp, who was becoming increasingly influential, then played in Oluwasemo and Roberts made a good save diving low to his left as he came off his line to narrow the angle, before collecting the ball at the second attempt.

In the forty-third minute, we finally got a second goal, Yusuff played the ball to Paxman who sent in a good cross and although it looked like it was going out at the far post, McCann was alert to the situation and he kept the ball in by heading it back across goal, Yusuff nodded it back from where it came and Smith turned it into the net from close-range. Although Invicta deserved the second goal, when it came, it may have been slightly against the run of play as our opponents were getting back into the game.

Just as it looked like we’d go into the half time break with a 2-0 advantage, we conceded another dangerous free kick, this time in the ‘D’ of the penalty area and this time Allsopp curled the ball around the wall and into the corner of the net, giving Roberts no chance, despite his valiant effort at keeping it out, as ‘The Lilywhites’ pulled a goal back. 

And that was the last action of the first half, after a frenetic start, things calmed down and although Invicta had been in the ascendancy there was a tendency to overplay and there was concern that missed chances might come back to haunt us in the second half, especially as Faversham Town had started to look more dangerous as the half went on culminating in their goal right on half time. At the break, our opponents made a change, when Benedict Bioletti replaced Clark Woodcock.

Yusuff had the first chance of the second half, as he did well to shake off the defender, but he then shot wide from the edge of the penalty area. Allsopp then almost put Oluwasemo through, but it was a fraction too hard, and Roberts came out to collect. Then Allsopp had a chance himself, as having received the ball from Richardson-Brown, he hit a shot on the turn, but Roberts was ideally positioned to collect the ball. At the other end, Heard played in Yusuff who turned well and got his shot away which was blocked, but bounced back to Heard, who shot and this received a deflection and Watkins collected at the second attempt whilst lying on the floor just outside the six-yard box. Despite that chance, at this stage our opponents were on the front foot and substitute Bioletti saw his shot deflected for a corner and eventually Richardson-Brown shot over.

Smith was again working hard up-front, and he did well to hold off his defender and play the ball to Paxman, whose cross got a nasty deflection which forced Watkins to parry the ball away for a corner, which was cleared, and although Dolan returned the ball that too was cleared. In the sixty-third minute, former Invicta player Charlie Dickens received the game’s first booking as he pulled Smith back as he tried to breakaway and although there was some consternation shown by the defender, it was much udo about nothing. A couple of minutes later, Johnson then equalled the booking count as he picked up a yellow card for a late tackle on Bioletti. From the free kick, Roberts came through the crowd but didn’t collect the ball cleanly and Richardson-Brown got in a shot, which this time Roberts did pouch. 

Both teams continued to make chances as Yusuff saw his shot well saved by Watkins and then he saw a second shot blocked only for McCann to shoot high and wide. This was McCann’s last contribution as in the seventy-first minute, he was replaced by Ian Draycott. Our opponents then made two further substitutions, as Sam Bewick replaced Jones, who had caused Invicta problems marauding forward from his full back position, in the seventy-fourth minute, and then two minutes later, former Invicta striker Dean Grant came on for Spencer. We then made a second substitution ourselves as Ollie Freeman came on for Smith with five minutes remaining.

Grant then had a chance, but he shot wide across goal and then Draycott saw his shot saved by Watkins after Yusuff had played him in. During the three minutes added on at the end of the game, Invicta had an escape as Allsopp sent in a free kick from the left of the penalty area, Grant got his head to the ball, which bounced off the bar and fortunately went to safety. They then had a corner which even saw Watkins go up, but it was cleared, and the Referee blew the final whistle, and that was it, we live to fight another day and wait to see who we’ll get in Monday’s Second Round draw (around 1:00pm). 

I spoke to Neil after the game and he said: “We started the game really well and probably should have been further ahead, but in the second half it went a bit flat. “Obviously I’m pleased with the result but at the moment we seem to be lacking in a bit of confidence, which seems to go back to the Eastleigh games, I don’t know why as we were excellent in those two games and the players are good players so there’s no reason why we should be. “With the increased crowds, they are perhaps under a bit more pressure, but as I’ve said, they are all good, experienced players so it shouldn’t affect them”.

I mentioned it was a surprise to see Matt Newman playing: “Yes, after last week I feared the worse, but he turned up today and said it was a lot better and that he was ready to play which was a real bonus, so it was a no-brainer, and he went straight back into the team.” 

He then sang the praises of Ryan Johnson: “I was also pleased to see RJ pick up the Man of the Match award today, as he is a player that quietly goes about his job, always turning in a seven or eight out of ten performance which rarely gets noticed.”

We then had the usual question of who he wants in the next round, he added: “Any one at home! “After all the travelling we’ve done this month, it would be good to get a home draw, otherwise we‘ll not have a home game until December 11^th! “Not only would that mean more time on the road, but also that we won’t have any gate income until then, at least we picked up the £3000 for winning today, that money is important to a club like ours. “We will be using some of the F.A. Cup money to bring in a player, and we may want to do it again next month if we need to freshen the squad a bit more.”  

Today’s game was sponsored by Trevor Allen from The Nailbox and after the game, he presented the ‘Man of the Match’ award to Ryan Johnson, for his good all-round performance in the holding midfield role. Thanks to Trevor for his continued support.

Finally, good luck to Faversham Town for the rest of the season. 

Folkestone Invicta: Tim Roberts, Josh Vincent, Kieron McCann (Ian Draycott, 71 mins), Matt Newman, Callum Davies (Capt), Ryan Johnson, Scott Heard, Ronnie Dolan, David Smith (Ollie Freeman, 85 mins), Ade Yusuff & Alfie Paxman, (Unused substitutes: Finn O’Mara, Micheal Everitt & Connor Collins). 

Goalscorers: Kieron McCann (6 mins) & David Smith (43 mins). 

Faversham Town: Luke Watkins, Donvieve Jones (Sam Bewick, 74 mins), Charlie Dickens, Mobalaji Dawodu, Joe Denny, Jono Richardson (Capt), Tyrell Richardson-Brown, Clark Woodcock (Benedict Bioletti, 46 mins), Emmanuel Oluwasemo, Eddie Allsopp & D’Jean Spencer (Dean Grant, 76 mins), (Unused substitutes: Alfie Eyles, Abdul Saccoh, James Geddes & Onoriode Ogboe). 

Goalscorer: Eddie Allsopp (45 mins). 

Referee: Tony Enstone

Assistant Referees: Tom George & Myles Hewson.

Attendance: 708 (again the fourth highest in this round of the Buildbase F.A. Trophy), many thanks to everyone who came to the BuildKent Stadium to support their respective team, I’m hope you enjoyed the game. 

Next Fixture: We are away at Wingate & Finchley on Tuesday (16^th November), for a Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division game, kick-off 7:45pm.