On a cool evening at the Maurice Rebak Stadium, Kieron McCann was Invicta’s hero as he hit his first senior hat-trick to give us a third successive 4-1 victory over Wingate & Finchley, as we registered our first win in four League games.
We fielded the same starting line-up as on Saturday against Faversham Town, and indeed the bench was also unchanged, whilst our opponents made two changes to their starting eleven from their Buildbase F.A. Trophy defeat at Hanwell Town as Matt Achuba came in for Connor Peters and Jesse Armoo replaced Sam Hatton.
As usual, the pitch was in excellent condition and the shower we had about an hour or so before the game had made it slick. Although Invicta kicked off, our opponents started the faster and Theo Ofori was a threat from the first whistle, having received the ball from Daniel Pappoe, he beat two defenders in a tight spot before he fed a pass to Wingate & Finchley’s leading goalscorer, Bilal Sayoud, who shot wide from the edge of the area. Kavan Cotter then swung in a deep corner in from the right which found Ofori in space at the far post, but he mishit his shot and Tim Roberts collected as the ball bounced safely into his hands from level with the penalty spot.
Ofori and Sayoud then combined well, but as the latter’s cross came in, Ofori totally missed his kicked and the ball went to safety. Cotter then had a shot having received the ball from another corner, but again, he failed to make a clean connection, and the ball bobbled wide of the goal.
In the first fifteen minutes, we struggled to make an impression and all we had to show for our efforts were a couple of dangerous crosses swung in from the right, before Alfie Paxman and Ade Yusuff combined to get the ball to Scott Heard and he in turn played it to Ronnie Dolan whose shot from around twenty-five yards went wide of the left-hand post. At the other end Ofori broke away and fed Luke Ifil, but this time it was his turn to shot wide from a narrow angle.
In the sixteenth minute, Invicta made the breakthrough, Yusuff did well to combine with McCann and he set-up the attacking wing-back with a shooting chance, albeit from a tight angle, but his shot sailed into the net taking a slight deflection off the defender on it’s way in. Shortly after it should have been 2-0, Josh Vincent won the ball in his own half before passing to Yusuff, who played a clever one-two with David Smith to find himself in the clear, but the striker tried to dink the ball over goalkeeper Ben Goode’s head and he ended up chipping it straight into his arms as a real chance went begging.
Jesse Armoo then received the game’s first caution as he made a late high tackle on Dolan, and we had a further chance but with a two-on-one break, Smith’s pass to Heard was cut out by a Wingate & Finchley defender. Our opponents then cleared the ball through Ifil, and it reached Meite on the edge of the Invicta area, he shot hard and low, but Roberts made an excellent save turning the ball round the post. The home side then suffered a blow as injury forced Pappoe to leave the field to be replaced by Sam Hatton, but this didn’t deter them and they came even closer to scoring when Sayoud played the ball to Ofori on the edge of the area, he took a touch before whipping in a dangerous shot which hit the outside of the post and bounced to safety.
There was then a moment of farce on the Wingate & Finchley bench as Armoo got injured and was taken off and it looked like he was going to be replaced by Tyrique Clarke, but after a committee meeting on the touchline, Armoo went back on, which would have consequences a while later.
In the fortieth minute, and slightly against the run of play, we doubled our advantage, Dolan fed the ball to Smith, who in turn played it to Yusuff and he sent in an excellent low cross and McCann arrived at the far post to turn the ball home from around ten yards, for his and Invicta’s second goal. Yusuff again showed some good skill as having received a pass from Vincent he showed a turn of pace to beat two players, before turning the ball back to Ryan Johnson who was central just outside the area, but the combative midfielder just cleared the bar with his shot.
Our opponents then reminded us they were capable of pulling a goal back as Ifil played the ball to Sayoud behind the Invicta defence and he sent in a good low cross which Meite turned wide, sliding in under pressure from Callum Davies. Then as we entered the last minute of the first half, Smith burst forward and was pulled back by Armoo which gave the Referee little option but to issue a second yellow card to reduce our opponents to ten men, perhaps it would have been better if he had been taken off earlier!
And that was it for the first half, Invicta had taken a while to settle down, but with a 2-0 lead and our opponents down to ten men, we would hopefully push on in the second half. However, the opposite almost applied as within twenty-five seconds of the restart, we were caught cold and Meite was put through by Ifil, but once again Roberts was out quickly to narrow the angle and make another brilliant save.
We got over that shock, as firstly McCann saw his shot saved as he looked to complete his hat-trick having been played in by Yusuff, who then saw his own shot blocked as he closed in on goal, although shortly after, Roberts had to react quickly to save Sayoud’s free kick from around thirty yards. In the sixtieth minute, McCann completed his hat-trick as after Johnson had won the ball, he played in Heard, who in turn released Smith and his low cross was turned in by McCann. It then almost got worse for the home side as Yusuff won the ball from Achuba halfway in his own half and having passed the ball to Heard who then played in Smith, he sprinted sixty yards to be on the end of his strike partner’s pass, but Goode made a decent save with his feet to prevent a further goal. Then almost straight away, Smith went close as he shot flashed past the right-hand post.
There was then a flurry of substitutions as Clarke did finally get on the field as he replaced Achuba in the sixty-fourth minute and then six minutes later Meite left the field and Hani Berchiche came on, whilst at the same time, Ian Draycott replaced David Smith, who had again put in a good shift.
In the seventy-second minute our opponents got a goal back and it was scored by their most deserving player, Ofori, who capped a fine performance by scoring from the edge of the area, despite the attention of three defenders he managed to get his shot away which was placed in the far corner giving Roberts no chance. This seemed to inspire ‘The Blues’ and for a while Invicta started looking increasingly ragged and disjointed as our opponents threatened a second as we made a number of misplaced passes, although both goalkeepers were called into action in quick time. Ofori released Ifil and his drilled low cross from the right was pushed away by the excellent Roberts at his near post, before we broke away with Draycott whose cross was hit first time by Heard, but parried away by Goode, in the Wingate & Finchley goal.
With ten minutes to go, we finished the game as a contest, when Yusuff played in Vincent and this time it was his turn to send in a dangerous low cross which Heard turned home, sliding in at the far post to settle any nerves we may have had. Micheal Everitt then made a rare appearance coming on as a substitute for Dolan, and Finn O’Mara almost got on, but having waited on the touchline for five minutes, the Referee blew his final whistle!
And that was it, a 4-1 victory that allowed us to move above Lewes into 3rd place, but we’ll have to play better against the Sussex side on Saturday if we are going to retain that position.
Talking to Neil after the game, he said: “Strangly, had it been 11v11 I think it would have been better as once they had a player sent off, we seemed to relax a bit and our standards dropped and in truth the game almost fizzled out in the second half. “I was pleased for Macca [Kieron McCann], he has been frustrated by injuries since coming back, but now he seems to be getting back to fitness to be an important part of the squad. “We changed the system slightly today, and for the majority of the game it worked, but Tim [Roberts] deserves a mention as once again he pulled off two or three excellent saves at important times during the game, whilst at the other end, I felt sorry for Ade [Yussuf] as again he worked so hard and was involved in virtually all the goals in some way, but he couldn’t get one himself, as a former forward, I know how frustrating that is, but I’m sure he’ll start scoring again soon.”
Finally, I asked him about the new signing, he added: “It was weird one and I don’t think I’ve come across it before. “On Saturday, he was going to sign 100% and he had signed and returned the transfer form, so we were ready to send it off, but then he phoned up and said he’d changed his mind and wanted to stay where he was. “The strange thing was, that if he had signed, I may have rested Macca tonight as he is still getting his full fitness back, but we didn’t and he scored a hat-trick! Sometimes there is a reason for things happening, or in this case, not happening!”
Finally, many thanks to Wingate & Finchley for their hospitality and we wish them well for the rest of the season.
Wingate & Finchley: Ben Goode (Capt), Matt Achuba (Tyrique Clarke, 64 mins), Luke Ifil, Daniel Pappoe (Sam Hatton, 29 mins), J’Ardell Stirling, Lewis Hobbs, Jesse Armoo, Kevan Cotter, Ibrahim Meite (Hani Berchiche, 70 mins), Bilal Sayoud & Theo Ofori, (Unused substitutes: Liam Smyth & Alphanso Kennedy).
Goalscorer: Theo Ofori (72 mins).
Folkestone Invicta: Tim Roberts, Josh Vincent, Kieron McCann, Matt Newman, Callum Davies (Capt), Ryan Johnson, Scott Heard, Ronnie Dolan (Micheal Everitt, 86 mins), David Smith (Ian Draycott, 70 mins), Ade Yusuff & Alfie Paxman, (Unused substitutes: Ollie Freeman, Finn O’Mara & Connor Collins).
Goalscorers: Kieron McCann (16, 40 & 60 mins) & Scott Heard (85 mins).
Referee: Steven Scott
Assistant Referees: Andrew Thomson & Tolga Inanc.
Attendance: 152, many thanks to all the Invicta fans who went to the game this evening to support the team, it is much appreciated.
Next Fixture: We are away again on Saturday (20th November) when we face another tough test as we visit Lewes for a Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division game, kick-off 3:00pm.