As usual, the Wingate & Finchley pitch was in excellent condition and with the deluge we’d had a couple of hours before the game it had an extra zip to it, although the game started in almost perfect conditions, but that wasn’t to last.
Folkestone made two changes from Saturday with Jordan Wright replacing the stricken Alfie Paxman and Sam Hasler coming in for Adem Ramadan.
The first fifteen minutes saw both sides sparring for superiority and chances were limited, with ‘The Blues’ skipper, Chris Doyle sending in a dangerous low cross which was well collected by Tim Roberts, whilst at the other end a corner was just too high for Josh Vincent.
Goldy Capela and Bilal Sayoud combined to get the ball through to Tommy Tejan-Sie who was fouled in a dangerous position on the edge of the area, but there was no need for concern as Sayoud blasted the ball out the ground.
We then went close, as Hasler played a quick free kick to Scott Heard and his low cross was almost met by Ian Draycott sliding in, but it was well cleared by a defender who just got in front of him. Our opponents then won the ball in midfield and Sayoud, who was a constant threat all evening, cut inside from the right, but shot wide of Tim Roberts’ right-hand post.
In the twenty-fourth minute, Invicta took the lead as the ball was cleared to David Smith wide inside his own half, he held it up well before playing an excellent through ball to Draycott, who having sprung the Wingate & Finchley offside trap, ran through and slotted it past goalkeeper, Myles Roberts.
Our opponents then came back, firstly, Finn O’Mara made a timely tackle as Tejan-Sie bore down on goal and then Sayoud again threatened but Tim Roberts got down low to save his shot, with the game now being played in heavy rain.
Immediately, Smith threatened the home side’s goal but this time it was Myles Roberts who made the save. Smith then looked set to score as having broken through he went round the Wingate & Finchley goalkeeper but couldn’t turn the ball into the net.
However, he didn’t have to wait long for his goal as in the 31st minute, he ran onto a through ball from Heard and placed the ball past Myles Roberts. There must have been a Wingate & Finchley supporter ‘upstairs’ as once again the heavens opened after the goal as if to express displeasure!
Wingate & Finchley then came back and Sayoud won a corner which Tim Roberts did well to punch clear under pressure, and then our opponents picked up a couple of bookings in quick succession, as firstly Charlie Edwards picked up a yellow card for a foul on Heard and then Kavan Cotter went into the Referee’s notebook for a tackle on Hasler.
In between those cards, Hasler managed to put his own free kick out of the ground to equalise the ‘lost ball’ count! Hasler then got involved with Edwards and was perhaps fortunate not to get a yellow card as he appeared to push the Wingate & Finchley defender over.
There were two minutes added at the end of the first half, which was negotiated without alarm and so we went into the break 2-0 ahead.
At the interval, Suleiman Bakalandwa replaced Yanik Kissi at left back, and he was involved straight away as he sent in a dangerous low cross which Tim Roberts was unable to pouch cleanly, but the ball was cleared by a defender before the Wingate & Finchley forwards could capitalise.
For the first ten minutes, as you’d perhaps expect, Wingate & Finchley looked to exert the pressure, but then on fifty-five minutes we went 3-0 up with one of the best counter attacking goals you are likely to see. Following a free kick to our opponents on the edge of our area, Draycott and Hasler combined to get the ball to Wright, who slipped it inside to Heard who hammered the ball home with a first time strike, giving Myles Roberts no chance.
To their credit, our opponent’s heads didn’t drop, as Wright did well to block Capela’s shot and then Sayoud sent in a dangerous cross-cum-shot which hit the bar but fortunately bounced to safety. And then the other two Wingate & Finchley substitutes, Billy Healey and Michael Tweed combined, but the latter was just unable to turn the ball in at the far post.
Invicta were also having their moments and looking dangerous on the break, as Callum Davies passed to Smith who again held the ball up well before playing in Heard who won a corner, which was cleared to Davies whose shot from just left of the penalty spot went wide of the left hand post.
Vincent then did well to nod on Tim Roberts goal-kick to Adem Ramadan, who had replaced Micheal Everitt who had another good game working tirelessly in the middle of the park. Ramadan played the ball to Smith who played in Draycott and his shot was deflected away for a corner, from which Vincent headed over. Smith was then foiled twice by Myles Roberts, firstly the Wingate & Finchley goalkeeper deflected his low shot away for a corner and then he made a terrific save, tipping the ball over the bar.
That was the end of Smith’s involvement for the evening as he was replaced by Clark Woodcock with five minutes to go, but he had once again put in an excellent shift.
Then came a moment of farce towards the end of the game. Tyler Sterling, who had replaced Scott Heard, who once again covered every blade of grass (at least once!), found Ramadan and when his cross came in the Referee rather harshly adjudged that a defender had handled and awarded Invicta a penalty.
Ian Draycott, looking to close in on Jimmy Dryden’s all-time Invicta goalscoring record, saw his penalty saved by Myles Roberts but the ball then rebounded to him and inexplicably he turned the ball wide of an empty goal from about ten yards.
However, the ‘fun’ hadn’t finished there as the Referee ruled that the goalkeeper had moved off his line before the kick was taken, which appeared to be correct as he looked nearer the six-yard line than the goal line when he made what was a good save!
So, Hasler then stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 4-0 in the 90th minute.
Despite the lateness of that goal, there was still time for our opponents to have the final say when a Sayoud free kick was glanced home by Doyle. That was the end of the action and as soon as we kicked off the Referee blew his whistle for the final time, we now wait until tomorrow to see who we’ve drawn in the Second Qualifying Round, it’s released at 1:00pm, information on here as soon as I receive it.
It was an encouraging performance to get us through to the next, and although Saturday is obviously a different game, it will install confidence after last Saturday’s defeat against Worthing.
After the game, Neil was not surprisingly delighted, saying; “I thought we were very good this evening and the first three goals were well worked counter-attacking goals, especially the third one. “Having lost on Saturday it was important to get a win tonight.
“In Alfie Paxman and Matt Newman, we’ve lost two important players, but their replacements Jordan Wright and Finn O’Mara were excellent this evening as was Sam Hasler who was asked to fill a totally different role for the game.”
Looking ahead, he added; We’ll have a similar squad for the League game on Saturday, although Aaron Simpson will also come into contention having signed earlier in the week, as he was ineligible for tonight’s game.”
Finally, thanks to Shirley and Ade for saving JV’s evening, as they delivered his boots to him after he’d left them in his car in Folkestone!!
Today’s Teams
Wingate & Finchley; Myles Roberts,Chris Doyle (Capt), Yanick Kissi (Suleiman Bakalandwa, 46 mins), Charlie Edwards, Jake Eales, Ahmet Rifat, Samir Bihmoutine, Tommy Tejan-Sie (Billy Healy, 61 mins), Goldy Capela (Michael Tweedy, 68 mins), Kavan Cotter & Bilal Sayoud, (Unused Subs; J’Ardell Stirling, Alieu Njie, Alphanso Kennedy & Fergal Hale-Brown).
Goalscorer; Chris Doyle (90 mins).
Folkestone Invicta; Tim Roberts, Josh Vincent, Jordan Wright, Finn O’Mara, Callum Davies (Capt), Micheal Everitt (Adem Ramadan, 72 mins), Scott Heard (Tyler Sterling, 88 mins), Ronnie Dolan, Ian Draycott, David Smith (Clark Woodcock, 85 mins) & Sam Hasler, (Unused Sub; Henry Newcombe).
Goalscorers; Ian Draycott (24 mins), David Smith (31 mins), Scott Heard (55 mins) & Sam Hasler (pen, 90 mins).
Many thanks to our supporters who travelled to the game this evening, the attendance was 158.