Folkestone Invicta secured a first win over Chatham Town in nearly a decade to end the August Bank Holiday weekend with six points. Captain Kevin Lokko and former Chatham man Ade Yusuff fired Invicta to their first victory in seven meetings between the two clubs.

Both sides came into the clash unbeaten in the Isthmian Premier Division after four matches. Chatham sat in second having dropped just two points so far while Invicta looked up from seventh, knowing that a win against Kevin Hake’s side would push them into the play-off positions for the first time since November 2024.

While Chatham fielded an unchanged XI from their win at Aveley, Jay Saunders made four changes to his Invicta side with Ben Mason making his first start on the right, Dean Rance replacing Mikey Berry who dropped out with a groin injury and Jake Hutchinson and Ade Yusuff replacing a front two of Kweku Lucan and Josh Strouts.

Invicta began on the front foot and carved out their first chance of the afternoon in the eighth minute as Hutchinson reacted quickly to a poor defensive header from Reece Butler, but the bouncing ball struck the onrushing Chatham keeper Henry Molyneux to force it wide allowing Alex Giles to cover and block Hutchinson’s effort on goal. Rance followed up soon after, volleying a high ball dropping out of the sky but forcing nothing more than a simple save from Molyneux.

Just minutes later an error at the other end allowed the hosts to take the lead. A long ball over the top from left back Kasim Aidoo caught Invicta captain Kevin Lokko, bouncing between the defender and Ted Collins to allow Tope Fadahunsi to lift it over the Invicta keeper and into an empty net.

It didn’t take Invicta long to respond after Yusuff won a free kick in the middle of the Chatham half. The Chats cleared Donell Thomas’ delivery but the midfielder was left in space to receive it back from Montel McKenzie and feed Yusuff in behind the Chatham defence, the forward driving to the byline and cutting back to Lokko to sweep home from six yards and level the score.

Chatham’s Ollie Evans was the first into the referee’s book after bringing down McKenzie out wide on the half hour mark. Joel-Michael Odeniran headed the free kick into the arms of Molyneux.

Collins was forced into a fingertip save to deny what would have been a goal of the season contender. From the resulting corner the Chatham players strongly protested for a penalty after a coming together in the box but saw their screams fall upon deaf ears.

The sides went in level at the break. Invicta came out quickly at the start of the second half with a Ben Mason cross causing chaos in the Chatham penalty area just a minute after the restart, the hosts managing to scramble the ball clear before Ade Yusuff could finish the chance. Lokko then saw a back post header cleared off the goal-line from a corner as Invicta continued to mount pressure.

Collins was called upon to make a simple stop down to his left before Dean Rance fired over the buildings behind the goal with an effort from 20 yards. That proved to be the key moment of the afternoon as Chatham handed Invicta a gift from the resulting goal kick. Butler rolled the ball to Molyneux who took a few seconds too long before stumbling on the ball and giving it to Thomas who laid it back to former Chatham man Ade Yusuff to fire into an empty net and set off in celebration.

Invicta’s rearguard action stood firm as Chatham looked for a way back into the match. Maxx Manktelow fired over the crossbar from a cleared corner and McKenzie forced a simple save from distance as Invicta looked to increase their lead. Josh Strouts was introduced with 15 minutes to go in place of Hutchinson before Jack Jebb and Kweku Lucan replaced Thomas and Yusuff as Invicta looked to see out the match.

Free kicks, throw ins and corners all began to pepper the Invicta penalty area as time ticked away but Lokko, Odeniran and Liam Smith were impenetrable as the referee added six minutes onto the end of afternoon. 101 minutes had been played across both halves by the time the final whistle sounded to bring to an end Invicta’s near-decade wait for a win over Chatham, with over 1,800 there to witness it.

This victory lifts Jay Saunders’ side into 5th place after the opening five fixtures as the Isthmian Premier Division now takes a break for a weekend of FA Cup action. Invicta host Isthmian South East side Sevenoaks Town on Saturday 30th August at Ashford United’s Homelands Stadium. Tickets are on sale now via our ticketing provider Fanbase.

Our next league fixture sees us back at Margate’s Hartsdown Park where we will host Whitehawk on Saturday 6th September. Tickets are also on sale for that fixture.