Date: 2nd October 2005

Scorers:
Invicta: Thompson 23, Hermitage 33, Mason 53
Addington: Titchner 4, Alyi 10

Half Time: 2 - 2

Man of the Match: Jamie Mason – An excellent all round performance down the Invicta right hand side both in attack and defence. Celebrated his 16th birthday with the Invicta winner.

A gritty performance from Tonbridge Invicta saw them overturn a two goal deficit and continue their perfect start to the season, keeping them at the top of the Tandridge C Division.

Invicta made the worst possible start, losing two soft goals in the first ten minutes. The first came in the 4th minute direct from a corner, a header from the unmarked Joe Titchner at the near post. Only six minutes later Eversley’s lead was doubled, keeper Kinderman losing the ball and despite frantic efforts to keep it out it was eventually rifled home into an empty net from the edge of the box by Daniel Alyi.

This appeared to wake Invicta, who started competing with strong challenges going in from all over the pitch, and they were nearly rewarded when Willers chased down a weak back pass only to see the keeper’s clearance hit him and loop agonisingly over the bar. This was to be typical of Willer’s game – plenty of running and commitment without his just reward.

On 23 minutes Invicta found a way back into the match. A deep delivery from a Mason corner saw Thompson rise highest at the back post and head back across the goal into the far corner.

Invicta were on top now and their pressure paid off. A poor goal kick just before half time went straight to Hermitage, who made no mistake coolly slotting the ball under the despairing dive of the David Guy in the Eversley goal.

Invicta kept on the pressure in the second half, with committed challenges from Phillips and Thompson making sure that Eversley never had the upper hand in midfield. The Invicta defence were under little real pressure, and any threat was quickly dealt with by Leigh and Barnett.

On 53 minutes Invicta took the lead for the first time. Mason whipped in a curling free kick from the left which evaded everyone and found its way into the far corner. It was a just reward for Mason, who had run hard and combined well with Parsons down the right flank.

This was how the score was to end, with the game flowing from end to end. The best chance fell to Hermitage who forced a great one handed reaction save from Guy with a close range header.

This was a great team performance, full of endeavor and commitment. Special mention must go to Taylor, who put in a solid performance in his first start of the season and Poore who took over the keepers gloves after only 10 minutes on the pitch. Next week sees Invicta try to maintain their 100% record at home to Chipstead.