Invicta finished off pre-season with an impressive win over National League South side Hornchurch on Saturday thanks to second half goals from Montel McKenzie and Jake Hutchinson.

Jay Saunders made four changes from Tuesday night’s win at Dover, with McKenzie replacing Ben Mason, Jack Jebb and Dean Rance coming into the midfield for Mikey Berry and Ronnie Dolan plus the addition of a new first choice goalkeeper between the sticks.

Invicta had the first chance of the afternoon on 18 minutes, Kevin Lokko heading narrowly over at the back post from a Jebb corner.

The first half remained competitive and high tempo throughout, but it wasn’t until the final few minutes that supporters saw real action at either end. Hornchurch saw an effort deflected onto the base of the goalpost before a Jebb free kick forced a good save at the other end. The half ended with Hornchurch striking the woodwork for a second time, a defensive header struck on the volley just outside the penalty area, striking the inside of the post and across the goal-line before being cleared.

Angelo Balanta and Jack Jebb traded efforts wide of the target before Invicta broke the deadlock midway through the half. Joel-Michael Odeniran clipped a perfectly-weighted pass down the left flank, over the Hornchurch defence for McKenzie to race away into space, cutting inside and finishing around Arthur Nasta.

Hornchurch defender Dave Winfield was forced off with just under 15 minutes to go after his ankle was caught under the trailing leg of an Invicta trialist as he made an attempt to block a clearance. We wish Dave all the best in his recovery.

Invicta doubled their lead just moments after the restart, as Hutchinson was brought down. Hornchurch protests that the foul was outside the penalty area fell on deaf ears and Hutchinson picked himself up to send Nasta the wrong way and score his fifth goal in eight pre-season games.

Invicta finish pre-season with five wins from eight, five clean sheets and heading into the season opener at Chichester City unbeaten in six. Supporters can book seats on our away travel coach via our ticketing provider Fanbase. Click here to book now.