Folkestone Invicta had their say in the Isthmian League title race on Saturday, holding leaders Dartford to a point at Princes Park.

Invicta made 3 changes to the side that had hosted Chatham Town a week earlier, with Frankie Morgan and Matthias Fanimo dropping to the bench while Dan Smith missed out with a knock that had forced him off at half time during the defeat to Chatham. Dean Rance came into the midfield and Evans Kouassi & Ade Yusuff formed a 2-man attack.

With 5 matches remaining, Dartford came into the weekend a point clear of Billericay Town at the top of the Isthmian Premier Division. Forward Eddie Dsane, starting in place of injured top scorer Olly Box, went close to opening the scoring early on with an effort from distance that flew just over Jonny Henly’s top corner.

It wasn’t long before before Invicta landed a blow to upset the odds. A free kick from deep reached Evans Kouassi who returned the ball to the centre of the penalty area, Luke Allen got his head to it first to nod it in the direction of Amadou Kassaraté, the midfielder heading the ball out of the reach of Dartford goalkeeper Jacob Marsden to give himself enough space to fire home the opening goal.

Former Aston Villa midfielder Samir Carruthers proved to be Dartford’s most potent threat all afternoon and forced Henly into his first save of the afternoon with a header before firing over the crossbar while under pressure from Rance. As the Darts searched for an equaliser, Denzelle Olopade managed to fire one effort out of the stadium, some feat considering the height of the stands at Princes Park.

Invicta would no doubt have been happy to take in a 1-0 lead at half time, but Kassaraté had other ideas. Gavin Hoyte, Rance & Miquel Scarlett worked a move on the right side before the latter fed Yusuff who derived a first-time cross that Kassaraté met with a flying header to leave Marsden with no chance.

With the final kick of the half Joel-Michael Odeniran reacted on the goal-line to prevent a ball across the box being turned home and ensure Invicta went in with a 2-0 lead.

Needing a response to avoid losing the initiative in the title race, Dartford came out for the second half flying. Henly had to be at his best to deny Michael Olarewaju’s header 5 minutes after the restart.

Dartford found their breakthrough on the hour mark, a Carruthers free kick from halfway reaching George Whitehead who did well to control with one touch before finding a way past Henly despite the effort of Odeniran on the goal-line.

Olarewju fired wide from close range and captain Josh Hill forced a save from Henly as Invicta attempted to hold The Darts at bay and hold on for all 3 points, but the hosts were given the opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot with 7 minutes remaining when Olopade beat Kouassi to a ball inside the box and went down under contact from the Invicta forward. Carruthers stepped up to fire him the penalty and level the score.

Matthias Fanimo replaced Evans Kouasso in the final few minutes and Brad Walledge, who has returned from Kennington for the remainder of the season, replaced Odeniran in injury time.

Dartford continued to search for a win that would have sent them 4 points clear of Billericay and Horsham and they thought they had it well beyond the 9 minutes of added time. Following a long throw into the Invicta penalty area, Hill flicked the ball back over his own head and towards goal, Louis Dunne beating Odeniran to get the final touch on the goal-line only to see the offside flag go up on the far side.

The point and battling performance gives positive signs for Invicta heading into our final 4 fixtures of the season, with Bowers & Pitsea set to visit the Alcaline Stadium on Saturday, with trips to 2 more promotion hopefuls Billericay Town and Cray Valley PM also to come.