We need as many points from our next four games to know where we stand, says Neil Cugley

FOLKESTONE INVICTA boss Neil Cugley is targeting his side’s next four league games as key in their bid to maintain the excellent start to the season which has seen them climb to third in the Ryman League Division One South table.


Those four matches begin away at Sittingbourne tomorrow, at Godalming on Tuesday and back at Cheriton Road against Burgess Hill (October 1) and Eastbourne Town (October 5).

“The games are coming thick and fast,” Cugley told www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk. “And we need to get as many points as we can from the next four before we can really take stock of where we stand.”

Cugley has responded to his striker crisis by taking Simon Austin back on what is being termed a short-term loan from Hythe Town.

Austin – goalscoring hero of Folkestone’s promotion play-off successes two years ago – has found himself crowded out at striker-laden Hythe with little chance of getting back in the side to stake his claim for a place after a recent injury.

Ahead of him now in the forward stakes at Reachfields are four other one-time Folkestone strikers in Brendon Cass, Jimmy Dryden, Lloyd Blackman and Craig Thompson.

“Ausso is back to help us out over the next couple of weeks and we’ll review the situation after that” said boss Cugley.

“Paul Jones is still out, but Richard Atkins and Stuart King could be back in two or three weeks time.”

Atkins continues to progress following his broken collarbone while King has now had a delayed operation on his arm and could be there to watch his team-mates at Sittingbourne tomorrow.

The Bourne have become a bit of a bogy side for Folkestone in recent years. Invicta’s last game on their always difficult Bourne Park pitch ended in a 2-0 league defeat in their promotion season of 2009/2010.

A key factor in that game was Austin’s dismissal for a challenge on the home keeper which earned the striker the only red card of his senior playing career.

The Bourne Park  outfit are now managed by Richard Brady formerly number two to the departed Gary Abbott.

They are currently 17^th in the table – with one win and three draws from six games – scoring three goals and conceding four. But their comparative goal drought came to an end when they hammered local rivals Whitstable Town 5-1 in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday – a game watched by Cugley ahead of this weekend’s clash.

“They had a lot of Dartford Academy lads and were very lively on the night,” said Cugley.

“They’ve clearly got some talented players but we should be more experienced and it’s up to make that count. We’ve got to get a grip right from the start.”

The Bourne still have consistent goalscorer Hicham Akhazani and big fellow striker Elie Kayembe in their ranks along with former Maidstone midfielder Colin Richmond – a key player when they beat Folkestone 3-2 to win the Kent Senior Cup at Cheriton Road on the final day of season 2009/10.

Simon Austin and Luke Blewden are expected to share to co-striking role alongside James Everitt with Matt Hollyoak likely to start at right back and possibly one or two more changes from the side that started last Saturday’s 3-0 home FA Cup defeat by Whitehawk.

The manager’s comments that his side need to take a hold early on in a real reflection on that Cup loss when Invicta conceded after just five minutes and again on the half hour with the game loss pretty much before it started.

Cugley has had some harsh words with his players over the manner of that defeat and said: “Losing to a good side like Whitehawk is one thing but it was the way we lost that I was so disappointed with."

Next Tuesday’s visit to Surrey looks like another awkward game against a Godalming side who have enjoyed one or two good results, especially at home – including beating the highly-rated Whitehawk 2-1 only 10 days ago.

Article courtesy of www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk  

Sittingbourne  v  Folkestone Invicta
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 24th September 2011
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Bourne Park, Central Park Stadium, Eurolink Industrial Estate, Church Road, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3SB