Invicta welcome Cheshunt on Tuesday evening for our second home fixture of 2025.
The fixture was originally scheduled for Saturday 7th December but was postponed due to Storm Darragh.
Invicta are on a run of 4 games unbeaten since Christmas, with 2 home wins and 2 draws on the road.
A win on Tuesday night would cut the gap to 5th place down to 3 points and could lift Invicta as high as 6th, depending on other results.
Team News
Invicta will be missing Sam Blackman with an injury picked up in December and defender Marvel Ekpiteta may be a doubt having missed Saturday’s trip to Essex after picking up and injury against Hastings United on New Year’s Day.
Ade Yusuff played 45 minutes on his return on Saturday at Bowers & Pitsea so may be in contention for his first start.
Winger Khale Da Costa and defender Joel-Michael Odeniran both headed out on loan last week, to Potters Bar Town and Herne Bay respectively while Tyler Anderson joined Isthmian South East Division side Phoenix Sports after a short stay at the Alcaline Stadium.
From The Manager
Andy Drury spoke to our Head of Media ahead of Tuesday night’s match: “On Tuesday we will be looking to build on a run of 4 games unbeaten since Christmas when we welcome Cheshunt. While we were disappointed not to return with all 3 points on Saturday it was another positive performance from the team, that is the standard we now have to continue to match week in, week out. Both the results and performances since Christmas have been positive, we need to continue that push through a busy month.
With 3 more home games to come this month, it’s huge for us to have the supporters behind us. They have been superb all season and we want to continue to give them the performances their support deserves, hopefully they will be out in number on on Tuesday night, wrapped up warm but fully behind us in the stands.”
The Opposition
With 2 promotions and a relegation in the past 7 years, it’s been quite a ride for Cheshunt. The Ambers won the Isthmian South Central playoffs in 2018/19, then after 2 season with no promotion and relegation through the COVID19 pandemic, they followed up with the Premier Division playoffs in 2021/22.
Relegation after 1 season in the National League South saw a return to the Isthmian League last season, with Craig Edwards’ side narrowly avoiding a return to Step 4 as they finished 4 points above Margate.
The Hertfordshire side currently sit outside of the bottom 4 by a point with a vastly superior goal difference.
Craig Edwards departed the club in mid-October, with Mel Gwinnets replacing him later in the month. A haul of 8 points in their last 5 matches sees Cheshunt come into the game in a good run of form.
Last 6
14/12 – Horsham (A) – Lost 3-1
17/12 – Bowers & Pitsea (H) – Won 1-0
21/12 – Dover (H) – Lost 2-1
26/12 – Wingate & Finchley (A) – Won 1-0
28/12 – Cray Valley (H) – Drew 4-4
04/01 – Lewes (A) – Drew 2-2
Recent Meetings
The sides have met 6 times since Cheshunt were promoted from the Isthmian North Division in 2019, Invicta with 2 wins to Cheshunt’s 3. Both of those wins for Invicta came at Cheriton Road, but our visitors took 3 points back to Hertfordshire in March 2022 with a 4-0 win on their way to promotion to the National League South.
Both games last season saw the home side come from behind to take 3 points, Invicta winning 2-1 at the Alcaline Stadium thanks to goals from Luke Holness and Ibrahim Olutade
Last 6
15/10/19 – Invicta 4-2 Cheshunt
13/10/20 – Cheshunt 2-1 Invicta
06/11/21 – Cheshunt 0-0 Invicta
19/03/22 – Invicta 0-4 Cheshunt
14/10/23 – Invicta 2-1 Cheshunt
19/03/24 – Cheshunt 3-2 Invicta
The Manager
Following the departure of the long-serving Craig Edwards in October, Cheshunt appointed Mel Gwinnett as their new manager.
Mel has held roles as a goalkeeping coach at Exeter City and MK Dons, assistant manager at Stevenage and Barnet before taking on the top job at Hampton & Richmond where he lead them to within a point of the National League South playoffs before departing in the summer.
Key Man
23 year old midfielder Antonis Vasilou is currently Cheshunt’s top goalscorer this season with 10 in 23 appearances. Antonis featured against Invicta last season during a spell at Margate, scoring a late equaliser in our 2-2 draw at Hartsdown Park in the FA Cup. After coming through as a youngster at Barnet, he joined Wingate & Finchley in 2022 before moving to Kent a year later, moving on to Cheshunt after a short spell in Thanet.
Admission
Supporters can pay on the gate for this fixture or purchase online in advance from our online ticket shop.
- Adults (18-59): £12
- Concession (60+, student, disabled, Blue Lights Card): £9
- Young Adult (13-17): £6
- Child (under 13): FREE
How To Follow
If you can make it to the match you can follow the action via our X (formerly Twitter) account. Alternatively, live score updates are available on Football Webpages.
Food & Drink
The Dugout Sports Bar will be open from 11:30am, with the Dugout Kitchen open for food. The Dugout accepts both cash & card.
Food and refreshments will also be available from the truck inside the stadium, located between The Dugout and the Folkestone Bowls Club building.
We have FOUR new fanzone bars around the ground serving draught beer, Guinness, water and soft drinks. 2 bars are adjacent to The Dugout, one beside the tea hut window and one beside the disability shelter. These bars are CARD ONLY.
The Dugout Sports Bar
The Dugout Sports Bar will be open from 4pm showing all of the days live sport, including:
- 19:00 – Port Vale v Wrexham
- 19:45 – Wycombe v Huddersfield
- 20:00 – Arsenal v Newcastle