Those who had waited until 11:03 for news from a 10am pitch inspection before making the journey from Folkestone to Imperial Fields must have wished there had been heavier overnight rainfall in SM4 as an Invicta performance that was off the pace from the 1st minute left us heading back to Kent with nothing.

Having made changes for Tuesday night’s Velocity Cup shootout win at Herne Bay, Invicta reverted back to the XI that had started the league win over Cheshunt a week before.

Kingstonian kicked off and were in behind to force a Coleman to make a save from a fierce cross from Invicta’s left after just 16 seconds and it set the tone for the afternoon.

Invicta forced a couple of very good saves from Kingstonian keeper Rob Tolfrey who parried over a cross from Scott Heard and got down well to an effort from distance from Chris Regis, but the game appeared to be over thanks to 2 goals in 5 minutes around the halfway point of the first half.

In the 19th minute the hosts must through Invicta with nobody picking up a run from deep from Mark Waters who latched onto a long through ball and finished beyond Coleman.

The second came from a ball over the top that reached winger Jude Mason to square to Darnell Goather-Braithwaite who beat Coleman with another first time finish.

Invicta would muster little to offer confidence of a fightback before half time and it was the hosts who looked more like adding to the scoring as a cross from the Kingstonian right was inexplicably missed from yards out in 1st half injury time.

While Coleman prepared to take the goal kick things went from bad to worse as midfielder Ade Cole left the pitch. We are happy to report that Ade has since been checked and given the all clear.

It took until midway through the second half for either side to create a moment of note as a Kingstonian counter attack left them 1 on 1 with Callum Davies but the chance was fired over.

Invicta would not get away with it a second time however as Eddie Dsane collected the ball with 20 minutes to go and, having failed to dribble the ball past his defender decided to just take on the shot from distance, firing an effort into the far top corner and compounding Invicta’s misery.

Chris Regis again displayed his ability to shoot from distance as he forced a second good stop from Tolfrey, with the resulting corner causing a scramble in the 6 yard box but no Invicta foot managed to send the ball goal bound.

The final chance of the afternoon again fell to the hosts who failed to make Invicta pay as a swift passing move opened up the defence but the shot was sent wide of the far post.

Thankfully the final whistle came before the rain began to fall in South London, Invicta in need of a much improved performance for Tuesday’s trip to league leaders Hornchurch.