Once again bright sunshine and almost perfect conditions greeted the Folkestone Invicta and Potters Bar Town players as they came onto the BuildKent pitch to compete for the three vital Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division points, although not many supporters would have believed the outcome as we inexplicably snatched a draw from the jaws of victory.
Invicta had a boost before the game when Josh Vincent was declared fit, so he came back into the side in place of Finn O’Mara, and Ian Draycott replaced the unavailable Matt Newman, with new signing Ollie Freeman on the bench. Our opponents had originally planned to make just one change from their side that drew 2-2 at Bognor Regis Town last week with Dwight Pascal replacing James Budden, but during the pre-match warm-up, Luke Tingay picked up an injury and Max Delyfer came in as a late replacement. This made it a difficult start for ‘The Scholars’ as a number of their players had to travel to Folkestone by train due to the lack of petrol in the area!
Our opponents had the first chance when Ryan Young burst through the Invicta defence, but just as he shaped to shoot, Callum Davies came across with an excellent sliding tackle to dispossess the attacker. Invicta then won two corners in quick succession, but they were dealt with by the Potters Bar Town defence, and then Jordan Wright, Scott Heard and David Smith combined well to set up a chance for Ade Yusuff, but his header was well saved by Hafed Al-Droubi in ‘The Scholars’ goal. Although at this stage Invicta were on top, our opponents were looking dangerous on the break and having won a corner, Ben Ward-Cochrane turned sharply but his shot was pulled wide.
After fifteen minutes we took the lead, Wright sent in a low cross to the near post and although Al-Droubi saved at the near post, the ball appeared to squirm from his grasp and Yusuff reacted well to turn the ball into the net. Vincent then picked up the first booking of the game for a foul on Jaden Sharman, and the free kick was played short with the cross finally coming in from the left, but Samson Esan was unable to turn the ball goalwards. Our opponents then picked up a caution when Dwight Pascal found his name in the Referee’s notebook for pulling back Smith. This time it was our turn to go close as Paxman sent in a tempting cross, but Yusuff failed to make a proper connection and his glancing header went wide, when he should at least have made Al-Droubi make a save.
At this stage Invicta were in control of the game and a couple of good sweeping end-to-end moves caused problems for the Potters Bar Town defence, but they dealt with the pressure well and we were kept at a distance. Smith then played a clever through ball to Yusuff but received a poor tackle from behind by Pascal. The Referee played a good advantage as Yusuff ran through, until he was then bundled over just outside the area for a free kick. The foul by Pascal looked sufficient for a yellow card, but the Referee showed leniency, maybe because he was already on a booking saved him. Unfortunately, the free kick came to nothing.
Tim Roberts then had to be sharp off his line as he headed a long clearance away, but it only went as far as Joseph Boachie some thirty yards out, but he couldn’t quite get his shot away. Yusuff then created a chance for himself as having received Wright’s low cross, he turned the defender and got his shot away which was saved low down by Al-Droubi. Smith then dispossessed Pascal and ran through, before sending in a low cross which was cleared by a defender as Yusuff closed in. In stoppage time at the end of the first half, Invicta finally got a second goal when following a number of sharp passes between Paxman, Ronnie Dolan and Yusuff, the former was brought down, and a penalty was awarded. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and with the Invicta senior goalscoring record at stake, Draycott stepped up to take the kick, sending Al-Droubi the wrong way as he hammered home his 142nd competitive goal for the club.
So, Invicta went into the break 2-0 ahead and on the balance of play that was probably about right, although it was felt the tendency to over-play at times and the chances missed could come back to haunt us and so it proved.
The second half started in a similar vein, Smith and Wright combined well on the right and the latter’s low cross was just out of reach Draycott as he slid into the six-yard area, and although Paxman returned the ball from the opposite side the cross was cleared.
Five minutes into the half, our opponents were then forced to make a substitution as Sharman hadn’t recovered from a knock he received in the first half, and he was replaced by Corey Parchment.
Three minutes later, we appeared to have sown up the game, when Yusuff put in a low cross which Draycott controlled and got a shot away on the turn, but he didn’t connect cleanly and as the ball ran loose, Heard slid in to divert the ball past Al-Droubi and put us 3-0 ahead in the fifty-third minute. At this stage, a lot of teams would have crumbled as we were well on top and threatening to add to our tally, but to their immense credit, Potters Bar Town came back immediately. Having regained possession from the kick-off, we lost it and the ball was played through the centre of the defence and Roberts appeared to hesitate in coming out to collect it which allowed Ward-Cochrane to nip in and turn the ball into an empty net a minute later. Despite being 3-1 down, our opponents now had their tails up and substitute Parchment received the ball from Esan, but his cross-cum-shot cleared the crossbar, however that was a warning, as in the fifty-sixth minute, we failed to clear the ball and Ward-Cochrane was again played in and he placed the ball wide of Roberts, for his and his side’s second, so with just over half an hour to go, it was game on!
Wright then intercepted a cross-field pass and played in Yusuff, who shot wide when again he should have at least forced Al-Droubi to make a save, whilst at the other end, Roberts made a good save to deny Ward-Cochrane a hat-trick when he tipped ‘The Scholars’ leading goalscorer’s shot around the post as they started to pose a real threat as our defence looked increasingly ragged. Ward-Cochrane then ran onto another through ball and having outpaced Vincent, Roberts again saved well and from the resultant corner, Pascal nodded over. Almost immediately after that, O’Mara replaced Vincent, who was feeling the effects of having been out for a couple of games.
Potters Bar Town were also beginning to take charge in midfield and Nathan Livings played a good ball through to Boachie, but he was fouled by Heard for his trouble, the Referee again played a good advantage as Boachie was well placed although his shot was deflected for a corner. However, the Referee then went back and booked Heard, which was in direct contrast to the way he had dealt with a similar incident involving Pascal in the first half.
In the seventy-sixth minute, we were again guilty of giving the ball away and Esan ran through and gave Roberts no chance, to restore parity at 3-3. At this stage it was anyone’s game, although incredibly having gone 3-0 down just eight minutes into the second half, our opponents were looking the favourites! In order to get the all-important fourth goal, both sides made substitutions with Amine Sassi replacing the dangerous Samson Esan in the eightieth minute and Ruben Carvalho coming on for Devonte Aransibia four minutes later, whilst Tyler Sterling had replaced Draycott a minute earlier.
Sassi was involved almost straight away, as he sent in a teasing low cross from the right, which was deflected for a corner and then ironically, we nearly scored with a break of our own. The ball was received by Wright on the right and his cross was deflected towards Smith, but the striker headed over from about five yards, again it really should have been on target. Sterling then also had a good chance, but instead of perhaps lobbing the goalkeeper who was out of position, he chose to run through on goal, but as a defender closed him down, he blasted his shot high over the bar.
The four minutes stoppage time added to the drama, as firstly Tyler saw his free kick from the edge of the area saved by Al-Droubi and then Sassi, who made a good cameo appearance in the ten minutes or so he was on, broke and sent in a good cross which was cleared. Invicta then had one final chance with the award of another free kick on the edge of the area, and again Al-Droubi dealt with Sterling’s effort.
So that was it, a game we really should have won, but credit to Potters Bar Town for battling back to pick up a point, although we’ll need to play a lot better in the next two games coming up, but let’s not get too despondent, we are still unbeaten and 3rd in the table, although we could have gone 2nd with the three points as Lewes lost at home to our opponents on Tuesday, Hornchurch.
As you can imagine, after the game, Neil was far from impressed: “I’m hugely disappointed with the result as I thought we played some really good stuff in the first half and when we went 3-0 up, I was looking at making substitutions with two more difficult games coming up in the next week, but they got a goal back straight away and all of a sudden we are on the back-foot. “We have to credit to them for coming back, especially as they had to make a very late change to their team before the game, but we have to look at both ends today, as although we conceded three poor goals, we missed enough chances to win another two games and we should have been out of sight before they scored. “We certainly shouldn’t be dropping points when we’ve taken a 3-0 lead, and it was disappointing that individual errors led to all three goals. “We’ve got an experienced team now and the players need to be more responsible, hopefully that game has got it out or system and we’ll go back to how we have been playing on Tuesday.”
The game was sponsored by the long-distance supporter Iain Leckie, who was celebrating his (un) birthday! After the game he presented the ‘Man of the Match’ award to Alfie Paxman. Thanks for your support Iain!
Having broken the senior Invicta goalscoring record with his 142nd goal, after the game, Ian Draycott celebrated another achievement by picking up the August ‘Goal of the Month’ Award for his strike against Worthing on the opening day of the season, from Chairman Paul Morgan. Well done Draycs!
Folkestone Invicta: Tim Roberts, Josh Vincent (Finn O’Mara, 70 mins), Jordan Wright, Ian Draycott (Tyler Sterling, 83 mins), Callum Davies (Capt), Ryan Johnson, Scott Heard, Ronnie Dolan, David Smith, Ade Yusuff & Alfie Paxman, (Unused substitutes: Ollie Freeman, Micheal Everitt & Connor Collins).
Goalscorers: Ade Yusuff (15 mins), Ian Draycott (pen, 45 mins) & Scott Heard (53 mins).
Potters Bar Town: Hafed Al-Droubi, Dwight Pascal, Jaden Sharman (Corey Parchment, 50 mins), Kieron Cathline, Max Delyfer, Nathan Livings (Capt), Ryan Young, Devonte Aransibia (Ruben Carvalho, 84 mins), Ben Ward-Cochrane, Samson Esan (Amine Sassi, 80 mins) & Joseph Boachie (There were no unused substitutes, but Luke Tingay had been named in the original starting line-up but then got injured in the pre-match warm-up and was replaced by Max Delyfer).
Referee: Crain Barnett
Assistant Referees: Luke Scottow & Nik Garside.
Attendance: Another excellent attendance of 782 today, thanks again to everyone who came to the BuildKent Stadium to support their respective team, hopefully you enjoyed the game.