Lion-hearted skipper Callum Davies grabbed his second goal in three games to secure all three points for Invicta at Tooting’s KNK Stadium to shoot Folkestone six places up the Bostik Premier Division table on a windy night in Morden on Tuesday.
Davies’ deft 64th minute header from a Scott Heard left wing corner took the heart out of a Terrors side who went into this game on the back to three successive wins but ended the day still second from bottom despite a lively first 45 minutes which they arguably had the better of.
In the last knockings of an even first 45 minutes, Invicta’s Sam Hasler smashed a typical blockbuster free-kick against the crossbar but the ball bounced down and was hacked away to safety.
The first half drama did not end there, however as Tooting broke free to win a penalty, but the spot-kick was fired almost into orbit and the two sides went in level at the break.
Hasler was chopped down well inside the box soon after the restart though referee Bhupinder Gill somehow awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty area and the home side could breathe again.
But Tooting were reduced to ten men when abrasive midfielder Chace O’Neill who had pushed his luck all game long, collected his second yellow card of the game and was sent off just 10 minutes after the break.
Folkestone seized the chance to pile on pressure and Davies broke the deadlock barely ten minutes later.
Ian Draycott had missed a glorious chance just seconds after the interval and Joe Taylor almost marked his return to the side with a second goal for the visitors but keeper Matte Pierson dived to smother the ball as Folkestone stepped up the pressure.
There were half chances at either end, but Folkestone had done more than enough to record their own third win on the bounce.
Neil Cugley’s side were never quite at their best, but neither at their worst and this is just the kind of almost ground out result that can sometimes shape the rest of the Folkestone club’s season.
They must now travel to Suffolk for the second time in eight days when they take on Leiston in the Buildbase Trophy on Saturday.
Invicta: Roberts; Vincent, Davies, Newman, Blanks; Heard, Everitt, Hasler (Cooper90), McCann (Wright 88); Draycott, Taylor
Subs not used: Madden, Shaw
Referee: B Gill
Attendance: 222