Folkestone Invicta bring a run of five consecutive home fixtures to an end on Saturday with the visit of Bognor Regis Town.
The fixture falls almost exactly a year to the day since manager Andy Drury took charge of his first game as permanent manager, coincidently a home fixture against Bognor Regis on 25th November 2023.
The fixture ends a run of 5 consecutive home games for Invicta, leaving us with a double header in Sussex at Horsham and Whitehawk to end the month.
Team News
After welcoming back a number of players for Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Dulwich Hamlet, manager Andy Drury can expect to have a similar squad available to him tomorrow.
Chris Sessegnon and Khale Da Costa are expected to be the only players missing, both through injury.
From The Manager
Andy Drury spoke to our Head of Media ahead of the weekend: “We are looking to follow up both a positive result and performance on Tuesday night and continue a run of back-to-back league wins at home.
Tuesday evening was fantastic, both on and off the pitch. The players gave everything to both us as coaching staff and the supporters, who gave everything back to the players in return. The tempo and energy from the lads was at 100% from the first minute and it felt like that was then reciprocated by the fans and it can make the Alcaline Stadium and intimidating place for teams to come. We want that again against Bognor Regis, we hope the supporters will brave the weather again and that in return we give them a performance that makes it worthwhile.
Bognor are a well established side at this level and despite not having the greatest start to the season we expect a tough test on Saturday, with them fighting for vital points. They took 6 points from us last season so a result on Saturday will show our progress as a group.”
The Opposition
Bognor Regis Town have had a difficult start to the season, spending most of the opening 3 months rooted to the bottom of the Isthmian Premier Division until a point at home to Carshalton Athletic last Saturday lifted them up to 21st on goal difference.
Robbie Blake’s side have scored 18 times in their opening 15 games, but it is at the other end of the pitch that problems appear to lie with 31 goals conceded, the worst in the league.
Away form has also been a problem for Bognor so far this term, with just 4 points from 7 matches, 20th in the league so The Rocks will be looking for only a second win on their travels this season.
Last 6
15/10 – Canvey Island (H) – Lost 2-1
19/10 – Cray Valley PM (H) – Lost 3-2
02/11 – Cheshunt (H) – Lost 4-0
09/11 – Bowers & Pitsea (A) – Won 1-0
12/11 – Lewes (A) – Lost 4-1
16/11 – Carshalton Athletic (H) – Drew 1-1
Recent Meetings
Invicta have failed to pick up a single point, or even a goal, from our last 3 meetings with Bognor Regis, but Invicta enjoyed a run of 3 wins previous to that meaning the sides have taken 9 points each from the last 6 meetings.
Last 6
26/10/21 – Bognor 2-4 Invicta (Isthmian Premier Division)
26/02/22 – Invicta 1-0 Bognor (Isthmian Premier Division)
10/12/22 – Invicta 4-1 Bognor (Isthmian Premier Division)
22/04/23 – Bognor 2-0 Invicta (Isthmian Premier Division)
25/11/23 – Invicta 0-1 Bognor (Isthmian Premier Division)
27/04/24 – Bognor 4-0 Invicta (Isthmian Premier Division)
Familiar Faces
Visiting supporters will be very familiar with Invicta’s current leading goalscorer, Dan Smith having spent 3 spells at Nyewood Lane before heading to Cheriton Road this summer.
The Manager
Robbie Blake joined Bognor Regis Town from Portsmouth in May 2018 as First Team Coach before taking over as manager in March 2022 following the retirement of Jack Pearce. Blake lead The Rocks to 14th place in his first full season in charge before a top 10 finish last term.
As a player, Robbie enjoyed a distinguished career in the football league with Bradford City, Leeds United and Burnley among his list of former clubs. During his second spell at Burnley he lead the Clarets to the Premier League, where he scored the first ever Premier League goal at Turf Moor.
Key Man
Of Bognor’s 18 league goals this season, Tommy-Lee Higgs has bagged 8 of them, plus a hat-trick in an FA Cup tie taking his total for the season to 11 in 19 appearances. The 20 year old forward is a graduate of the Southampton academy, joining Bognor last summer, scoring 18 times in 46 appearances.
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 showing all of the days live sport.
- 12:30 – Leicester v Chelsea
- 12:30 – EFL Football
- 17:30 – City v Spurs
- 19:45 – Hearts v Celtic
