Folkstone vs Carshalton Athletic – Preview
Saturday 10th August
Ko 15:00
Saturday is the big day for the Robins as Peter Adeniyi’s take a trip to the Kent coast to face off against a new-look Folkestone Invicta, who have been a team in transition this summer. The fixture will kick off Carshalton’s 18th year in the Isthmian League, and the Robins will hope to set the tone for a promotion pushing season.
Carshalton will bid to start their 2024–25 Isthmian Premier Division campaign positively when they travel to the Alcaline Stadium to take on Folkestone Invicta FC this weekend.
The previous trip to the Seasiders was on a cold late January afternoon, and it produced a six-goal thriller, concluding 3-3. In fact, the tie has always been a goal fest. Since the two sides crossed paths in 2018, they have faced each other ten times, with the Robins undefeated, winning six and drawing four.
The opening day of the season is, of course, important for setting the tone for the rest of the campaign, and Adeniyi’s side will bid to emulate the flying start of the 23-24 season with their emphatic win against Potter Bar Town. Of course, Folkestone will have similar ideas and will be bolstered by their strong home support, so the boys will have to be at their very best to take something back to Colston Avenue.
Folkestone Invicta FC
Folkestone Invicta FC have undergone a period of transition over the last two years, which has seen their league form take a turn for the worse. The resignation of Neil Cugley after a staggering 26 years in charge in November 2022 meant it was an unprecedented time for the fans and the club.
In a bid to inject some stability, assistant Roland Edge and player-coach Michael Everitt took the reins and guided the Seasiders to a comfortable 12th-place finish in the 2021–22 season.
That summer, a lot changed off the pitch on the Kent coast. It was announced that a consortium of local businesses would come together to take over the day-to-day operations of the team. As a result, Josh Healey, owner of Addington Leisure, who had joined forces with their new headline sponsor Alcaline, would be the chairman heading a 5–10-year plan for the Invicta’s. The longest-serving English football club manager in history, Cugley, would take on the role of Director of Football.
However, a torrid start to the following campaign saw Edge and Everitt dismissed in November 2023, with the club in 11th place off the back of a disappointing home draw against next-to-bottom Haringey Borough.
Player-coach and summer arrival Andy Drury impressed the board with a “compelling presentation” and was therefore given stewardship of Folkestone. Upon arrival, Drury admitted that his focus was to rebuild and avoid a relegation scrap; subsequently, he took a hit for a couple of games.
The Seasiders concluded 2023 on an all-time low for the club. A bitter 5-0 loss to local rivals Hastings provided Drury with his “worst boxing day ever” before capping off the year with a 3-1 defeat to Hashtag United. They headed into the new year on just 19 points, 11 above the relegation zone.
In January and February, their fortunes began to turn around; Drury’s side won three, drew five, and only lost two, which included frontrunners Hornchurch. That said, it was at the backend of the season that the 40-year-old witnessed the fruits of his labour.
Crucial victories over the likes of Kingstonians, Canvey Island, Cray Wanderers, and Lewis, often regarded as their best performance of the campaign, allowed them to put together a run of form, bragging four wins out of five.
Beating play-off hopefuls Horsham 3-1 in early April was a massive result, demonstrating a togetherness and spirit they lacked at the beginning.
Folkestone had dispatched teams in and around the play offs and showed the rest of the league that they should have been up in contention for promotion if it had not been for such a poor start to proceedings. Safe from relegation, Drury cast an eye to a very busy summer.
And it certainly panned out that way. It has been an extremely busy summer for the Seasiders, with a huge turnover of players. Testament to Drury, this is the second squad he has had to build at Folkestone in a very short amount of time. Sensibly, Folkestone got the majority of their business done in the first three or four weeks of the window, building a good core group of experienced leaders, and a mix of youth.
So far, there have been 13 new additions to the Folkestone squad. The standouts are: Matt Young, who scored 15 in 44 appearances last season; one of the best midfielders in the National League South, Jack Jebb; and ensuring Tom Derry put pen to paper on a new deal – he netted nine goals from Christmas despite limited service.
Pre-season for the Seasiders began early in July with a narrow 2-1 victory against Sheppey United. Nine games later, a 0-0 draw at Tonbridge on Saturday enabled them to go unbeaten and gel a new-look squad together.
On Carshalton, Drury said: “I think you will see a more improved Folkestone when you turn up next week.”
Likely line-ups
Carshalton Athletic
Formation: 4-3-3
Mackenzie Foley; Aziz Sankho, Fikayo Atewologun, Ollie Hamstead, Luke Read; Dominic Vose, Fabio Saraiva, Tommy Bradford; Bryan Ifianyi, Mason Saunders-Henry, Darnell Goather-Braithwaite
Folkestone Invicta
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Jonny Henly; Gavin Hoyte, Frankie Morgan, Ian Gayle, Marvel Ekpetita; Dean Rance ©, Eze Ebuzoeme; Evans Kouassi, Matt Young, Ellis Brown; Tom Derry
Team News
Carshalton
Adeniyi’s only injury concern is midfielder Kwaku Frimpong, who was forced off just before the 30-minute mark against AFC Wimbledon at the weekend after latching onto a lofted pass in behind and going down clutching his leg.
His withdrawal seemed precautionary; however, the severity of the injury is still unknown.
Folkestone
Following Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Tonbridge, Drury admitted: “One or two [players] haven’t got the minutes that we would like, like your [Jack] Jebby’s and [Sam] Blackman; he’s out for the first couple of games, so we are going to be a couple short next week; we are not going to be completely at full strength.”Morgan also suffered pain in his hamstring versus Maidstone and was withdrawn, but it is only expected to keep him out until mid-way through this week.
Pre-match analysis
Even though Folkestone have gone unbeaten during pre-season, the performances have shown that this is very much a new side that are not overly familiar with one another’s game at the moment. The Seasiders spent large parts of last season penned back without the ball, and Drury made it clear that the Invicta’s recruitment was driven by how they want to play this season: dominating possession and playing football.
Along the way, pre-season has exposed their vulnerabilities. First of all, defensively, they can be sloppy and have proven prone to an error or two, which has punished them in some games, particularly the Maidstone fixture. Therefore, an intense high press from Ifianyi, Saunders-Henry, and Goather-Braithwaite may be key to forcing the mistake.
A couple of their players, Brown and Ebuzoeme, have also shown a lack of match fitness, and injuries mean they may have to rely on them come Saturday. While they have also struggled for goals, Derry could be unavailable on Saturday, which would call upon Smith to lead the line.
Despite aligning more with their vision of having a focal point in the forward areas, Derry guarantees goals.
Tricky winger Kouassi carries their attacking threat and is extremely dangerous on the left flank. Quick in behind, he will be difficult to track, and with the creative capabilities of Young at No. 10, nullifying him will be a priority.
Key Player
Since arriving from National League North side Bishop’s Stortford, forward Tom Derry has been invaluable to the Seasiders. Despite next-to-no service, Derry scored eight goals in 25 appearances to guide Folkestone away from the threat of relegation. The 29-year-old then put pen to paper on a contract extension in May to remain for the 24–25 season.
Carshalton fans will know all about Derry from January’s six-goal thriller. The striker was responsible for two of Folkestone’s goals, latching onto a lofted pass in behind and volleying beyond the keeper into the far corner. He then converted a deep cross to the back post with a wonderful header.
Having the talented Young at No. 10 makes him even more of a goal threat, and if he is fit Saturday, which he should be following an appearance on the bench at Tonbridge, he will lead the new-look Folkestone line-up.
The Gaffer
Starting his career at Sittingbourne FC, he made 107 appearances before moving to Ebbsfleet United, Lewes, Stevenage, and then Luton, where the winger earned a transfer to Championship side Ipswich Town owing to strong performances. After 64 appearances, Drury signed for Crawley, returning to Luton for a second spell in June 2014 but never reaching the heights of the first. From then on, he remained in non-league with Eastleigh. Brief spells as player-assistant in May 2021 at Cray and playing for Chatham Town in early 2023 ensued; however, Drury focused on his coaching ambitions.
Rewind to March 2022, he was appointed manager of Isthmian South East side Whitstable Town. Given his relative success, the young coach succeeded Jay Saunders at Margate in the Premier Division. Yet, with them 16th he was dismissed until being named player-manager of Folkestone Invicta, where he had previously joined as player-coach in the summer.
Last Meeting
The last meeting between the two sides was the January six-goal thriller on the Kent coast. Folkestone took an early lead inside ten minutes before two goals in quick succession put the Robins ahead, approaching the 20 mark. That was until Derry equalised almost immediately and then put the Seasiders in front on the stroke of halftime. Oluwabunmi Babajide salvaged a point for the Reds in the dying embers of the match.
Tickets
Robins fans can purchase tickets in advance from the Invicta web site or from the turnstiles on the day.
Folkstone Invicta web site
Admission charges: £12, £9, £6
