Kentish Football 
Folkestone Invicta 4-1 Whitstable Town - We're not good enough, admits a furious Peter Nott
Monday 29th August 2011
FOLKESTONE INVICTA 4-1 WHITSTABLE TOWN
Ryman League Division One South
Bank Holiday Monday 29th August 2011
Stephen McCartney reports from Cheriton Road
WHITSTABLE TOWN boss Peter Nott was furious with his players’ following their poor performance which saw them crash to a heavy defeat at Folkestone Invicta.
Whitstable started their Ryman League Division One South campaign with wins over Walton Casuals and Maidstone United, but the wheels came off with a poor display at home to Merstham at the weekend and Nott demanded a positive reaction at Cheriton Road today, but the manager was enraged with his side’s lack of desire during this coastal clash.
The writing was on the wall as Nott’s preparations for the game were thrown out of the window when left-back Ashley Ulph pulled out of the team within five minutes before kick-off, so Nott was forced to switch Gary Sayer across to left-back and winger Marvin Okundalaiye slotted in at right-back.
“It’s just not good enough! It’s poor!” fumed Nott.
“Again, we keep, keep giving early goals away, where we’re not solid at the back. In the first half we pulled ourselves back into the game, where we had a good spell and then we done exactly the same in the second half.
“It’s just not good enough! We’ve got a young team, we’ve got players out there who got bullied off the ball and I’m just not having that!
“They (my players) worked hard enough, the quality was off and we’re just not strong enough at this level of football!”
Nott also slammed Ulph for pulling out. “Butch Ulph pulled out less than five minutes before kick-off and he knows how I feel about that,” fumed Nott.
“Telling the manager five minutes before kick-off, after you’ve named your team and the team sheet’s in and we’ve all prepped, we’ve gone through set plays and five minutes before kick-off he tells me he’s not right to play!
“Butch has pulled up before the game. He was struggling to strike the ball but we get here an hour and a half before a game and it’s not good enough!”
Folkestone started on the front foot and they took a ninth minute lead through striker Richard Atkins, but they lost their four-goal striker, Stuart King through a strained hamstring, before Whitstable Town levelled through Stuart Vahid, the striker later going off with a kick to the back of his heel.
Folkestone Invicta boss, Neil Cugley, asked his players to ‘play better football and believe in yourselves’ at the interval, and they turned on the style as second half goals from James Everitt, Roland Edge and Frankie Chappell maintained Invicta’s 100% home record, in front of their largest crowd of the season so far.
Folkestone Invicta, who began their campaign with a home win over Walton & Hersham, slipped to an away defeat at Corinthian-Casuals, but two late goals from King, sealed a 2-1 win at Whyteleafe at the weekend and the team are playing with confidence and attacking flair, which was evidently missing as they finished rooted to the foot of the Ryman Premier League table last season.
Folkestone started well, and they were denied by visiting keeper Matt Lamprell inside the first three minutes, when Edge’s hooked pass released James Everitt through on goal, but the keeper spread himself and blocked the left-footed shot with his legs.
But they deservedly opened the scoring after nine minutes.
Darren Smith swung in a corner with his right-foot from the left and Atkins peeled away from his marker at the near post and stuck out a right leg to stab the ball past Lamprell.
Folkestone Invicta boss Neil Cugley thought it was a good performance.
He said: “Apart from, I felt, first half for 20 minutes after Kingy went off. We lost a little bit of our shape and to be fair Whitstable came into it. We had some words at half-time to start getting the ball down and start playing a bit more football and when we did that, we showed what a good side we are.”
When asked his thoughts on the opening goal, Cugley said: “That was the disappointment, we didn’t kick on from that! At that time we looked like we’d take the game to them for a long, long time and then we lost our way, as I say, when Kingy went off. We went a bit all over the place.”
Whitstable should have equalised just 80 seconds later when James Morrish’s low diagonal pass opened up a good chance for an advanced Scott Heard to hit a right-footed shot from 22-yards straight at goalkeeper Jack Delo.
But with King’s fitness concerning the Folkestone bench, Whitstable levelled in the 19th minute.
Heard delivered a corner from the right and James Peacock came up from the back to head up in the air and the ball dropped down for Vahid to stab a right-footed shot over the line from three-yards.
Folkestone striker, James Everitt, who ended the first half at the heart of defence, looped a header into Lamprell’s gloves after Ryan Moreby’s free-kick was flicked on.
A midfield battle was then played out, before both side’s created half-chances towards the end of the half.
Liam Dickson looped a throw, which was flicked on into the Whitstable box and Atkins’ glanced a header straight at Lamprell.
And at the other end, Rob Lyall looped a throw into the Folkestone box and the ball was headed out to Ant Bodle on the edge of the box, but his hooked right-footed volley went straight down Delo’s throat.
Smith, who was outstanding in the Folkestone engine room, played his part as Folkestone swiftly took the lead – 104 seconds into the second half.
Smith, 34, clipped the ball into the Whitstable box, and James Everitt took a touch before firing a shot beyond an exposed Lamprell into the bottom left-hand corner.
Cugley said: “It was a great touch from Ratty (James Everitt), a great touch and a great finish! He’s played well this year. He had a lot of problems with his back last year and he’s trained hard all summer and wherever he plays, he plays well.”
Whitstable’s vocal fans chanted, “8-2, we’re going to win 8-2,” – Manchester United thumped Arsenal by that scoreline at Old Trafford yesterday, but it was going to be Folkestone Invicta that went on to win comfortably here today.
Whitstable went close in the 52nd minute when Lyall’s cross-come-shot sailed just over the top of the far post after the midfielder initially released Bodle down the left with a cushioned header.
Whitstable’s Heard then cracked an ambitious right-footed drive from 35-yards, which sailed over the roof of the terracing at the Grammar School End.
Folkestone Invicta had a 61st minute goal ruled out for offside. Instead of shooting, the classy Edge chipped the ball onto the penalty spot for Atkins to chip the ball into the roof of the net, but the Ashford based assistant referee Stephen Brown raised his flag.
Whitstable came within inches to grabbing an equaliser nine minutes later, but the crossbar saved Folkestone.
Keelan Mooney played the ball inside to Lyall, who sent the former Tunbridge Wells striker on his way down the left and after cutting inside he teed up Lyall, whose right-footed chip from 20-yards took a deflection and bounced off the top of the crossbar.
That proved to be a key moment in the game, as Folkestone wrapped up the victory with two late goals.
Nott said: “It might have been (a good time to equalise), but it was evident today that Folkestone worked hard all over the pitch, they had more desire. I’m not having my teams getting out competed!”
Their third goal arrived in the 74th minute when Whitstable crowded out Smith and Atkins on the corner of the penalty area, but they left Edge unmarked on the other side of the box and the Folkestone skipper cracked an unstoppable left-footed drive from 25-yards, which moved in the air, deceived Lamprell and looped into the net.
Cugley said: “Edgy (my player-coach) is a big part of this club and he’s been brilliant, a brilliant help to me and when he’s out there he’s talking to the lads and obviously he can’t quite to what he wants to do leg wise but when he pops up in places like that he’s still a good player and a brilliant bloke to have around.”
Mooney snatched at a shot, which flashed wide of the near post, before Folkestone wrapped up the victory with two minutes left.
Peacock was booked for bringing down James Everitt, after the striker cut along the left-by-line, and Smith drilled in a dangerous free-kick towards the near post and Chappell was on hand to rifle a right-footed shot into the roof of the net from close range.
“It’s always nice to get four at home,” said Cugley. “We’re trying to be more entertaining, trying to give the fans’ something. I suppose sometimes it will backfire like it did against Corinthian-Casuals. Three wins out of four, we would have taken it.”
In praising his players, Cugley said: “Richard Atkins was superb and James Everitt was superb so what’s nice now is we’re not relying on (King). Of course we want him back as soon as we can, but him and Jonsey (Paul Jones) were out. If you had said that a year ago that would be big problems for us. Dryden’s left us (to sign for Hythe Town), so suddenly we have no real players but the Atkins’ lad coming through looks really, really good.
“He (Atkins) was in our youth team and went away to college and he’s just come back. We weren’t expecting to chuck him in but he’s done really, really well. He showed, even though it was his second game, he’s lead the line well and that got everyone else going, I think and people like (Josh) Vincent and people like that started believing in themselves a bit better.”
Cugley added: “All credit to Smithy, I thought he was outstanding again second half. You think he’s 34 and he’s all over the park.”
Whitstable wasted a chance from a free-kick at the death. Peacock’s right-footed effort from 26-yards took a deflection before Delo saved comfortably, but it was too little, too late, leaving Nott furious.
“I’ve told them twice now. I’ve told them after Saturday’s performance, I said I wanted a reaction for today and I’ve just told them again today, you can only tell them so many times and then you’ve got to come to the conclusion that there either ain’t listening and that’s no good or that their not good enough and the way I feel at the moment it’s the second one. I’m not accepting it!
“They have got to want the shirt! We’ve got to become a difficult team to beat. We’re an easy team to beat at the moment.”
Nott added: “I’ve got to make changes very, very quickly. Some of the senior players that have come back have not put their stamp on the game but I can’t have that!
“It messed my Saturday night up, I’ll have another miserable night tonight and I just wonder how many players in that dressing room feels the same. They certainly didn’t show the character that I needed today!”
Nott has demanded that his side turn ugly from now on.
He said: “Are we really bothered about playing? They’re certainly not be collecting the money, I can assure you of that because we haven’t got any players like that, but it’s alright wanting to come and play at this level and having the facilities and stuff like that but wanting to win at this level is another thing.
“There’s too many nice boys’ in the dressing room. They are nice boys’ but you win nothing with nice boys’.
“I’ve got to look at that team. I’ll be the first to admit I went to bed very, very early Saturday night to try to get the game out of my mind. I only started to think about this game on Sunday and I changed the team three or four times because on Saturday we had two players who I thought had done anything decent and today I can’t even had one player so we have to make changes so it’s where we go from here now.
“If we we’re going to get a reaction we were going to get a reaction today so it proves to me my squad selection has been poor and I need to do something about it very quickly.
“We’ve got six points out of twelve, bottom half, which is not where I want to be. Maybe that’s good enough for some of them in there, I don’t know?!”
Folkestone Invicta: Jack Delo, Josh Vincent, Liam Dickson, Liam Friend, Frankie Chappell, Roland Edge, Darren Smith, James Everitt, Richard Atkins (Roy Guiver 86), Ryan Moreby (Matt Hollyoak 76), Stuart King (Micheal Everitt 19).
Subs: Andrew Miller, Roddy Hayward
Goals: Richard Atkins 9, James Everitt 47, Roland Edge 74, Frankie Chappell 88
Whitstable Town: Matt Lamprell, Gary Sayer, Scott Heard, Rob Lyall, James Peacock, Peter Hawkins, Marvin Okundalaiye, Ant Bodle, Stuart Vahid (Ryan Benniman 53), James Morrish, Keelan Mooney.
Subs: Ashley Ulph, Steven Lloyd, Dan Wisker, Grigoli Zulmatashvili.
Goal: Stuart Vahid 19
Booked: Marvin Okundalaiye 63, James Peacock 86
Attendance: 321
Referee: Mr Matt Goldsmith (Hastings, East Sussex)
Assistants: Mr Paul Beadle (Sevenoaks) & Mr Stephen Brown (Ashford)
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd