The 4th Kent Derby of the season at the Alcaline Stadium was the 4th to finish 1-0 as Dartford snatched the 3 points with a late winner.

While manager Andy Drury was delighted to welcome back captain Ian Gayle to his defence, Sam Blackman was forced to the bench with a slight knock and Dan Smith missed out completely, Khale Da Costa and Tom Derry coming in tweaked system while Maidstone United loanee Sam Smith was afforded his first start at left back in place of Frankie Morgan.

Supporters would find goal-mouth action few and far between on a windy afternoon at Cheriton Road. Invicta’s first foray into the Dartford penalty area came in the 9th minute, Da Costa fed in behind by Smith before going down under a challenge that was deemed fair by the referee.

The first shot of the afternoon didn’t come until 6 minutes before half time, a Dartford corner taken short to work an opening of Ollie Box who fired tamely through a crowd of players into Jonny Henly’s arms. The visitors ended the half with a Sam Okoye effort into the side netting from a tight angle, but the sides headed in goalless at the break.

During the break the rain began to come down to add to the strong wind blowing across the Alcaline Stadium. Winger Da Costa was booked early into the second half, before then being replaced by Sam Blackman as Drury opted to for a tweak to the system as Invicta looked to impose themselves on the afternoon’s proceedings.

It was Dartford’s turn to be denied a penalty on the hour mark after Marvel Ekpiteta and Louis Donne went down together in the penalty area but the referee awarded a free kick to Invicta for a foul on the defender.

Invicta tested Jacob Marsden for the first time with 20 minutes remaining, Joe Turner striking a central free kick from distance into the keeper’s arms.

With just over 10 minutes to go, Dartford found the moment that settled the match. A free kick from near halfway sent into the Invicta box caused chaos, the ball eventually falling to Callum Jones to poke home from close range.

The closest Invicta came to a chance to equalise was a ball that dropped to Gavin Hoyte on the edge of the box, the fullback slicing a first time effort. A further blow was dealt to Invicta late on as Blackman pulled up and had to be replaced, Joe Tyrie on to make his debut after joining on loan from Tonbridge Angels.

The defeat for Invicta ended a 3-match winning run at home while the visitors extended their own unbeaten run to 11 matches.