Folkestone Invicta boss Neil Cugley looks forward to his 801st game in charge

Last weekend’s 3-1 home win over Three Bridges was Cugley’s 800^th game in charge of the Cheriton Road club in what is now his 15^th consecutive season.

That victory – which came thanks to a fine hat-trick from the division’s top scorer Stuart King – ended a run of nine games without a win.

Cugley told www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk: “We’ve been playing well without much luck and hopefully we can kick on from here now that we’ve got a win under our belts.”

But he is wary of a Leatherhead side who currently sit one place and one point below Folkestone in the table – and with two games in hand.

Perhaps the manager’s caution is justified as the Tanners are now managed by ex-Sittingbourne boss Richard Brady who has taken several of the Bourne’s better players with him to Fetcham Grove.

Cugley said: “They’ve got some very good forwards. When (Greg) Andrews can’t get in the side at the moment that speaks for itself and they’ve also got Tom Bradbrook who always us problems when he was at Sittingbourne.”

Indeed, Andrews – then with Walton & Hersham – tore ten-man Folkestone apart last season with four goals in a 5-0 win – Invicta’s biggest defeat of last season. But the pacy striker has been an unused sub for Leatherhead in recent games.

And Bradbrook – a player who Cugley would have liked to sign a couple of times in the past – was a key figure for Sittingbourne when they became Invicta’s bogey team a few years back, including their 3-2 Kent Senior Cup Final victory at Cheriton Road during that period.

Folkestone travel with a full squad and no injury or suspension problems – “We’ve no-one close to five bookings,” added Cugley,  “We’ve got no problems – and so we can have no excuses!!

“They are usually there or thereabouts and it would not surprise me at all if they were to put a decent run together and go shooting up the table.”

Meanwhile, next Tuesday, Cugley gives his fringe players a run-out in a friendly away to Kent Invicta League side Ashford United.

He said: “We’ll have the first team squad there, but it’s primarily to give a run-out to the lads who are not getting much football at the moment.”

Article courtesy of www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk  

Leatherhead  v  Folkestone Invicta
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 24^th November 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Fetcham Grove, Guildford Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 9AS