An entertaining Saturday afternoon in North London was cut short in unfortunate circumstances after a collision between Tom Derry and Wingate & Finchley goalkeeper Prince Adegoke resulted in the match being abandoned by the officials.

We are thankful to hear that Prince was discharged from hospital on Saturday evening with scans showing no damage to head or neck and we wish him a speedy return to action.

Invicta arrived in North London off the back of Tuesday’s derby win at Dover making just one change to the lineup, with Frankie Morgan replacing Jamie Mascoll at left back. Sam Blackman, who had been suspended for the first two games of the season, joined the squad for the first time in place of Chris Sessegnon who was suffering from a slight knock.

Having started in rapid fashion on Tuesday evening, Invicta nearly repeated it with Ian Gayle rising high at the back post to head a ball from deep back across the face of goal only to be denied by the fingertips of Adegoke inside 50 seconds.

Where Invicta had failed, Wingate did not. After clearing the corner, our hosts broke quickly and a minute after Invicta could have been in front they were behind, Ogo Obi finding Destiny Oladipo in enough space to pick his spot and open the scoring.

It was a lead that lasted just 3 minutes. Dean Rance won the ball in midfield and found Invicta’s front three with Dan Smith being played into space on the right, laying the ball off to Gavin Hoyte to deliver to the back post for Tom Derry to plant a header inside the post and level the score.

Kouassi was next to go close to finding the net on 10 minutes, the winger picking up a loose clearance and driving at the Wingate defence before firing just over from the edge of the box.

It was a competitive first half with but neither side was finding chances east to come by. Dan Smith fired wide from the outside the box in the 35th minute as it looked like we would probably head into the break level, but Wingate had other ideas. With 7 minutes left of the half, Invicta cleared a corner but the return diagonal ball was headed back into the middle of the box to Obi who found the space to turn and fire beyond Jonny Henly to restore Wingate’s lead.

Before Invicta had time to regroup the lead was doubled. A loose pass in midfield allowed Wingate to counter quickly, this time Oladipo providing the assist for Obi who finished beyond Henly to give the hosts a 3-1 advantage at half time.

As has been the pattern in recent weeks, Invicta found a new wind after the break and were almost level immediately as Dan Smith fired a ball across the face of goal just 15 seconds after the restart but neither Derry or halftime substitute Ellis Brown were able to get a vital touch.

Invicta were now controlling the game much better while Wingate always remained dangerous on the break, shortly before the hour mark it was game on as captain Ian Gayle cut the deficit in half. Frankie Morgan was found high up on the left in space and hit by a tackle from Rhamar Garrett-Douglas for which he was certainly very fortunate not to be heading back to the dressing room. Eze Ebuzoeme delivered the set piece and the captain rose highest to head home.

Garrett-Douglas did not make the most of his good fortune however, just 4 minutes later the winger lost a race to reach a pass that ran out for an Invicta throw before kicking the ball down the touchline. The referee reached back into his pocket to issue a second booking and sent Wingate’s no. 7 off.

With the man advantage Invicta were now turning up the pressure but it was Henly who saw his palms warms next, pushing away a shot from the edge of the area with just under 20 minutes remaining.

With 15 minutes left Kouassi hit a cross that ricocheted between 2 defenders and out for a corner. Ebuzoeme delivered again and once again it was captain Ian Gayle who got in front of his defender and rose highest at the near post to power his header beyond the keeper and level the score.

Into the final 10 minutes and it was beginning to be a question of whether Invicta could pick the lock once more to take all 3 points back to the Kent coast. Substitute Jamie Mascoll hit a free kick from just outside the box that beat the wall and only just missed the post.

With more than 8 minutes left on the clock came the moment that would see the afternoon cut short as Tom Derry and Prince Adegoke both went for a cross from Mascoll, the keeper getting highest to claim the ball above Derry who caught a knee that would leave him needing treatment but the Wingate keeper falling hard to the ground.

Thankfully ambulances were on the scene in quick time but, after a wait of 17 and a half minutes, the referee brought the afternoon to a close, leaving both sides to wait upon a decision on the fate of the fixture.

After a busy opening week Andy Drury will now have time to regroup ahead of a busy bank holiday weekend, his side welcoming Isthmian South East champions Cray Valley PM on Saturday ahead of a trip to Hastings on August Bank Holiday Monday.