After a return to winning way on Saturday as Invicta saw off Hendon 2-0 at the Alcaline Stadium, we welcome Phoenix Sports for their very first visit to Cheriton Road in the 1st Round of the Kent Senior Cup.

Invicta have exited the competition at the 1st Round stage for the past 2 seasons; to Cray Valley in 2022 and Chatham Town in 2023, both at Cheriton Road.

The winner will face a trip to either Chatham Town or Cray Wanderers in the last 16, their 1st round tie also being played on Tuesday evening.

Kent Senior Cup

Founded in 1888, the Kent Senior Cup is the most prestigious competition in Kent Football. The trophy cost is made from 62 ounces of silver and cost £33 when it was made.

24 teams will compete in this season’s Kent Senior Cup, with 8 ties in the 1st Round featuring Isthmian League clubs (excluding Dover and Dartford). The 2nd Round (last 16) sees the introduction of clubs from the National League South, National League and EFL.

The current holders are Maidstone United who beat Ebbsfleet United in last season’s final at Bromley’s Hayes Lane. The final was held just 24 hours after Ebbsfleet played a vital National League fixture away to Halifax Town, leading to the club fielding a much weakened side in the final where they were beaten 4-0.

Maidstone United are also the competition’s most successful side, lifting the trophy on 19 occasions, Dartford trailing them with 13.

Folkestone Invicta have never won the Kent Senior Cup, despite making the final on 6 occasions (1999, 2000, 2004, 2010, 2018, 2022). Folkestone/Folkestone Town/Folkestone & Shepway lifted the trophy on 6 occasions (1934, 1957, 1969, 1978, 1983, 1985).

 

Team News

Manager Andy Drury may well take the chance to rotate his squad for Tuesday’s Kent Senior Cup tie, suggesting on Saturday that it would be a great chance to get minutes into players.

Folkestone Invicta Academy goalkeeper Dan Kennedy may be in line to make his debut having featured for the first team during pre-season. Midfielder Sam Blackman will be available having returned from his loan spell at Hythe Town. Despite currently serving a 3-match suspension in the league, Tom Derry is available to play in the Kent Cup.

From The Manager

Andy Drury spoke after Saturday’s win over Hendon: “This is a competition that maybe gives us a chance to get minutes into the legs of players who haven’t been playing that regularly but having gone out of the FA cup early this is an opportunity to progress in the competition that we want to take.

I thought that it was a very good professional performance here against Hendon on Saturday when I think that we controlled the game from start to finish. We probably weren’t quite good enough in the final third during the first half but we spoke at half time about the tempo and adding a bit of quality. We raised it after the interval and scored two goals. We also didn’t concede chances at the other end so credit to our defence and midfield, Jonny [Henly] made a great save from their only real chance.

It was unfortunate when Dan [Smith] got injured and had to go off which disrupted us a bit but full credit to the boys who bounced back after a couple of recent defeats. It was an important three points for us against a club in the top half of the table which gives us something to build on. 

Sam Blackman is now back after a month’s loan at Hythe Town and Jack Jebb came on as a substitute on Saturday for his debut. It has been a tricky injury with Jack and we have had to deal with it patiently but I think you can see the quality that he has on the ball and from set pieces and he now just needs to build his fitness up.  

Khale Da Costa made his debut on Saturday and I’m delighted to sign him. He was an important member of the Chatham team who reached the play off final last season. We had to fight off competition to bring him to the club and he has spent a couple of weeks training with us after not having played too much football recently. 

We had a big rebuild of the squad during the summer and we continue to build. We are demanding high standards from the players and we need to maintain those to get this squad and this club where it wants to go.”

The Opposition

Phoenix Sports will be making their first ever visit to Cheriton Road on Tuesday evening as the two clubs meet for the first time.

You can find out more about our visitors in our new feature: Meet the Opposition.

Last 6

21/9 – Lancing (A) – Lost 2-0
14/9 – East Grinstead (H) – Lost 2-1
10/9 – Sittingbourne (A) – Lost 4-0
7/9 – Uxbridge (A) – Lost 6-0 (FA Trophy)
4/9 – Sevenoaks Town – Lost 3-0 (Velocity Cup)
31/8 – Eastbourne Town – Lost 2-0

Admission

Supporters can pay on the gate by cash or card or can purchase tickets online in advance. Supporters are advised to head to the designated turnstile(s) for their payment method in order to ensure easy enter to the stadium.

Please note that due to competition regulations season tickets are not valid for this fixture. 

• Adults (18-59): £8
• Concession (60+, student, disabled, Blue Lights Card): £5
• Young Adult (13-17): £3
• Child (under 13): £1

 

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 4pm, 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 will be showing all the day’s sporting action on 13 screens, including action for the Carabao Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy.