Sunday 22nd January 2006

Scorers:
Invicta - Willers 30, Thompson 35
Chislehurst - 48

Half Time 0 - 2

Man of the Match:
Tom Parsons - another impressive performance both in centre and left midfield getting stronger and playing with more confidence as the game progressed.

Invicta were drawn against first round giant killers Chislehurst Wanderers, who belied their league position by beating Redhill 3-0 in the first round of the league Trophy. With a early pm kick off Invicta’s squad of 15 players went in search of a win and progress in to the quarter final stage, knowing anything below par could lead to their downfall.

The match started with both sides adjusting to a heavy slope across the pitch which led to much of the early play along the bottom side and the Invicta left hand side as they attacked.

Teddy was Invicta’s most influential players in the first period with strong support from Jack Freke at left back. Space was at a premium and Willers was often running out of ground with balls played over the defensive line. Invicta were having to be patient as the home side worked hard as a team and denied Invicta clear scoring opportunities and when they did get thru’ Billy Gleeson was proving a hard man to beat with some excellent saves.

Finally on the half hour Willers was put through by Parsons and managed to squeeze the ball under the keeper and slide the ball home ahead of the covering defender. This was son the half an hour and it was 2-0 after a Mason corner was partly cleared and captain Matt Thompson scored from 8 yards. Invicta should have wrapped the game up right on halt time when Teddy and Willers combined but Trevor blasted over from close range.

Chislehurst hit the post with their best chance of the period, but once again the Invicta defence looked solid as a unit with Kinderman clearing up when necessary.

Four changes at half time saw Josh Poore entered the fray and helped enable Invicta to dominate the second half. However as is often the case Chislehurst took advantage of a defensive hesitation and made it 2-1 on 48 minutes.

Thereafter it was pretty much one way traffic but the tenacity of the home defending meant every chance had to be earned and more importantly finished with a degree of finesse. Unfortunately Invicta could not find the third with a cracking strike from Poore hitting the post from 30 yards and Gleeson again making a superb save to deny Willers after good work by Mason.

Once again it proved there are no easy games at this level and credit both teams for playing the match in a good sporting manner with both sets of players working hard for each other.

Invicta are scheduled to travel to Hamsey Rangers next Sunday in their re arranged league fixture from early January.