Isthmian League football returns to Cheriton Road on Tuesday night as Invicta welcome Chatham Town to the Alcaline Stadium. What better way to kick off than with a Kent derby under the floodlights against last season’s South East Division champions?

From The Managers

Speaking on Sunday evening, joint Head Coach Micheal Everitt said:

“We are delighted with the way we started the season on Saturday. We had a tough away fixture and a new group of players but to score 4 goals and keep a clean sheet is the best start we could have hoped for. We obviously know that it is only 1 match and we have to back it up this week, starting with Tuesday night against Chatham.

We are really looking forward to being back under the floodlights and playing in front of what we expect to be a decent crowd. The supporters are always important to the team on the pitch, we took a good support to London on Saturday and a big crowd will be huge for the team on Tuesday night. 

We are expecting a tough game against against Chatham. They come into this season having won the South East Division last season and you only have to look at Canvey Island and Aveley last season to see where that sort of momentum can take you. They are used to winning football matches and won on the opening day so we will have to be ready on Tuesday.”

Previously

Our last competitive fixture against Chatham was a 3-0 FA Cup defeat in October 2020. The match was played in front of a sell out crowd of 600 due to COVID restrictions and it was the 90 travelling Chatham supporters that went home happy.

The last time the 2 sides competed in the same league was the 2015/16 season with Invicta winning both fixtures; 2-1 at Cheriton Road and 1-0 away at Maidstone Road. 

The Opposition

As mentioned above, Chatham Town had a pretty good time last season, winning the Isthmian South East Division just a year after being promoted from the SCEFL. Add to that their run to the final of the Kent Senior Cup where they finished runners up to Margate in a shootout at Priestfield. 

The Chats opened this campaign with a 1-0 win over Bognor Regis Town at The Bauvill Stadium on Saturday with a 1st half goal from Jamie Yila. Their squad included 2 former Invicta men: Jack Evans & Chinedu McKenzie. Plenty of other players have experience of this level including goalkeeper Ben Brindle Card & defender Cameron Brodie who have both spent time at Margate while former Gillingham forward Danny Kedwell offers plenty of experience at the age of 40. 

Admission  

All our fixtures are pay on the gate with no tickets sold in advance. Both cash and card are accepted on our turnstiles. Please arrive as early as possible to avoid queues at the turnstiles. 

Food & Drink

Bar Invicta & The Seasider will open from 6:30pm and both accept cash & card. The Wilf Armory Bar will be open from 6:45pm and also accepts both cash & card. The food van and tea hut will also be open but will accept CASH ONLY.