Sunday 5th March 2006

Scorers:
Invicta - Leigh 6, Hermitage 12, Willers 21
Addington - Plummer 35

Half Time 3 - 1

Man of the Match:
Glen Nicholls - a few contenders this week, but given to Glen making it three MoM’s in a row followed by three bookings in 4 games! Showed the commitment, stamina and desire required in the middle of the park to see Invicta through to the Trophy Final.

Invicta secured their place in the Trophy Final at the end of April with a battling and hard working performance against a strong and equally determined Addington Palace side on a bright but cold morning at Swanmead. A sizeable crowd came to enjoy the action and cheer on both teams.

The late injury to Andrew Phillips, saw the return of Josh Poore to central midfield, other wise Invicta remained unchanged from last weeks win. Taylor and Parsons returned to the bench.

A tight game was expected from the off, but Invicta looked at little sharper as Addington settled into the game. A foul on Nicholls, led to a twice taken free kick after an encroachment and Mason found Ollie Leigh whose header cannoned off the right post, came back to him, he hit the left post before bundling in the rebound. The referee turned away calls for offside as the offending player was not interfering as Leigh netted his second of the season.

A great start for Invicta became one of delight when on 12 minutes good work in midfield by Poore fed Hermitage and his left foot shot from outside the box sailed over the keeper giving him no chance.

With a 2-0 lead Invicta stood off and allowed Addington to get back in the game as they penned Invicta back for a spell. The balls over the top were a threat and Thompson, Mason and Freke were all required to make last ditch tackles to deny a shooting opportunity.

With a breeze at Invicta‘s backs in the first period a third goal was really needed and it came mid way through the first period with a subdued Willers coming to life after Hermitage put him through and a calm finish put the home side 3-0 up.

Teddy on the left wing was much involved during this period and put in an excellent contribution in the match.

Addington kept pushing and they gave themselves a lift when Ryan Plummer headed down a corner and when Kinderman and Teddy left it for each other to clear, the ball was in the back of the net.

Invicta remained unchanged at the break with all the players giving their all. The order at half time was to keep it tight and look to get a goal on the break as Addington would have to push players on to get themselves back in the game.

During this period, the better chances fell to the away side but Kinderman was not seriously threatened as Thompson and Leigh once again produced big performances on the day and were determined not to be breached again.

Parsons came on for the tiring Poore in the middle after 55 mins and was straight in the thick of it, giving Nicholls some worthy support. Willers had the best of Invicta’s second half chances but good goalkeeping denied him a second goal.

As Mason and another strong performance from Whittome closed out Invicta’s right side, Teddy and Freke were doing the same on the left, it was a case of playing out time. Holmes replaced Hermitage who work rate made sure the defenders were given a hard time as Barnett and Taylor were unfortunate not to get involved on the pitch today, but showed great support for the team.

This was Invicta’s 12th straight win, a fine achievement by any standards and it will only get tougher as each week brings the season closer to an end.

Very well done boys, a reward for all of your effort and commitment over the season to date.

Next week, Invicta travel to 3rd place Chipstead in search of another 2 points to keep a top two spot alive.