Invicta picked up a vital point on Boxing Day with a goalless draw at The Dripping Pan, a man of the match performance from Lewes goalkeeper Toby Bull denying Andy Drury’s side all 3 points.

The manager was able to recall midfielder Jack Jebb and forward Dan Smith to his starting XI, the pair having missed the defeat to Dartford with injuries. New signing Conor Kelly joined the bench alongside Evans Kouassi following the end of his 1-month loan spell at Bowers & Pitsea.

1,450 packed the terraces in Sussex, including a hardy contingent of travelling Invicta supporters who had made the 2 hour trip, the 4th longest trip across all of non-league football on Boxing Day. Invicta kicked off, and while chances to shoot were scare in the opening period, the match was played at a decent tempo from the first whistle.

The first half was broken up midway through by an injury to Ethan Kaiser. The hosts springing to create the first chance of the afternoon from the drop ball, hooking it over the Invicta defence for Calvin Ekpiteta (cousin of Marvel) who saw his shot from a tight angle saved before Danny Bassett struck the outside of the post with the rebound. Lewes followed up immediately with forward Gianluca Botti forcing another save from Henly with a shot from distance less than a minute later.

After riding out a dangerous few minutes, Invicta soon went close with an effort of their own as Jack Jebb narrowly missed the top corner with a free kick from 25 yards.

Invicta had the ball in the net on the half our mark after a pass back to Bull was left short, the goalkeeper hesitating but just about managing to beat Dan Smith to it and being caught by the forward as Dean Rance finished into an empty net.

Lewes went close again on 38 minutes when Matt Warren was found in space and broke into the penalty area before firing just wide of the far post.

The Ekpiteta cousins traded blows at the end of the half, first Marvel headed over from a free kick on 43 minutes before Calvin fired comfortably wide from distance deep into stoppage time.

Invicta showed an ability to attack down the left side early in the second half, Joe Turner getting in behind and firing a low ball across goal that was recovered by Matthias Fanimo, Turner eventually firing over an effort from the edge of the box after Lewes failed to clear. Turner was alive to spring after a poor pass from Bull, the winger intercepting and racing in on goal only for the Lewes goalkeeper to make amends with a good save at his near post. The resulting corner punched clear to Sam Smith who took aim from distance, his effort taking a big deflection into the path of Rance who headed over.

Turner’s next effort was even better, as was the save to deny him. Smith feeding the ball out to the left, Turner cut inside and unleashed towards the far post but Bull flew though the air to get a strong glove to it and keep his clean sheet intact.

Halfway through the second half, Fanimo collected a defensive header to force a good save from 25 yards, the rebound coming bak to the winger who unleashed a 2nd effort on his weaker foot but was unable to hit the target. Shortly after, Fanimo made way for Kouassi to make his first appearance since 26th October against Barton Rovers, Conor Kelly then came on for his debut as he replaced Jack Jebb.

Kelly very nearly made an instant impact in front of goal, a Jonny Henly free kick into the box fell to Dan Smith who forced a good save from the edge of the penalty area, the rebound bouncing unkindly for Kelly in the 6 yard box. Then, in the final minute, Kelly was given a real chance to make himself an instant hero to the travelling support, Joe turner feeding a perfectly weighted ball through the Lewes defence but another save from Bull denied an initial effort before a second only managed to find the side netting, even if a few in the ground thought it had sneaked in!

Despite Invicta’s second half dominance, it was Lewes who nearly snatched the points deep into injury time as Warren was on the end of a counter attack, Henly making himself big to deny the first effort before Marcus Sablier fired over on the follow up.

Invicta were made to settle for a point at a venue where wins have traditionally difficult to come by, but were left buoyed by the second half performance even if frustrated at having not taken more. Both the result and performance gave manager Andy Drury a platform to build on ahead of the visit of Wingate & Finchley for the final fixture of the year.