WHITSTABLE TOWN 2 FOLKESTONE INVICTA 4
Pre-season friendly
Tuesday September 1 2020 19.45
There were plenty of goals and near misses for those in attendance to enjoy, as the last home game of Whitstable’s pre-season campaign ended in defeat to a good Folkestone team. Whitstable played with confidence following two narrow wins against other Premier Division teams, Cray Wanderers and Margate, but despite fighting back well from a two goal deficit to level the scores, the visitors added two late goals to ensure their recent good form continued.
Whitstable were without captain Tom Bryant, Aaron Millbank, Ollie Gray and Liam King for this game. Folkestone had been in good form during pre-season and their squad included several players that had featured for Whitstable in the past – Micheal Everitt, Scott Heard, Ronnie Dolan, Jordan Wright and goalkeeper Henry Newcombe actually signed for Invicta after playing for Whitstable against them in a friendly in 2019.
Luke Medley tried an early shot that was safely collected by Newcombe in the Folkestone goal. The visitors then won two corners, which led to a couple of blocked attempts and a wrestling match in the goalmouth between Leo Mazzone and David Smith that had to be sorted out by the referee before play could continue. From the next Folkestone corner, Everitt found himself free, but headed over the bar. Former Whitstable favourite Heard then had a sight of goal, but the ball ended up in the side netting from a tight angle. At the other end, a Medley free kick struck the wall and Charles Etumnu tested Newcombe from the rebound. Folkestone opened the scoring in the 19th minute when a Kieron McCann cross from the left was met by the head of Luke Girt, but his clearance only fell to Adem Ramadan who controlled the ball before firing it past Dan Eason. A second goal was threatened when Smith diverted an Alfie Paxman cross into the hands of Eason and Matt Newman glanced a far post header wide. It eventually arrived in the 25th minute when Ramadan collected a pass from Heard on the right and sent over a teasing cross that was headed into his own net at the back post by a stooping Ollie Rowe.
A deep cross from the right by Mazzone caused some problems for Newcombe who touched it behind for a corner. Etumnu and Jay Hards combined to release Medley in the box, but his shot was well saved by Newcombe. It was Medley again that tested the Folkestone keeper this time from the left of the area, but with a similar result. Whitstable kept up the pressure on the Invicta goal and were rewarded in the 33rd minute when Jadama won the ball and fed Medley on the edge of the area and this time his fierce shot into the top left corner gave Newcombe no chance. McCann had a couple of efforts to restore the two goal advantage, before Whitstable appealed in vain for a penalty when Etumnu went down just inside the box. Whitstable created one more opportunity before the interval following a driving run from Jadama and as the ball was played out to Medley on the right, his cross to the far post was just missed by Tom Mills, leaving Folkestone with a 2-1 lead when the referee blew for half time.
Folkestone made three substitutions when the teams emerged for the second half, although Whitstable had the better of the early exchanges. Hards played in Jadama whose shot was well saved by Newcombe and then the wall did its job from a Medley free kick. Medley, who had caused numerous problems for the Folkestone defence, next set up Etumnu and his blocked shot rebounded to Jadama who lifted his follow up effort over the bar. Eason had to get across to ensure a low shot from Ramadan did not creep inside the post and from the resulting corner a strong header by Callum Davies appeared to be kept out by a combination of Eason and the bar. Whitstable equalised on 56 minutes when Medley played a clever reverse pass from the halfway line to send Hards clear on the right and he unleashed a shot from just inside the box that was parried by Newcombe. Jadama followed in to nod the ball against the underside of the bar and had another go as it bounced up again before it was grabbed by the goalkeeper, but the assistant had already signalled that the ball had crossed the line.
Mills shot over from distance as Whitstable looked to add another and Smith had a good chance for Folkestone, but missed his header when well placed. The game was now quite open and Tyler Sterling forced Eason into a save, then Johan Ter Horst failed to keep his shot down. Both teams made further substitutions and one of these, Clark Woodcock, restored Folkestone’s lead in the 71st minute as a left wing cross bounced awkwardly for Mills and the ball dropped to Woodcock who struck a low volley into the net. Whitstable were not quite finished and Jadama shot wide before a substitute trialist hit a low deflected shot that Newcombe was able to save. Folkestone scored their fourth on 79 minutes when Woodcock was allowed the chance to send in a cross from the right, Smith helped the ball on and Ter Horst shot past Eason with his second attempt. There were a few half chances at both ends in the closing stages, but after Mills headed a high bouncing cross over the top in the 87th minute, Folkestone saw out the rest of the game comfortably for a 4-2 win.
Whitstable manager Lloyd Blackman will surely have been pleased by some of his team’s play, particularly going forward, but may be disappointed with the way all four goals were conceded. Generally, the pre-season performances have been encouraging and the final game before the real action begins will take place at South Central club Chipstead on Saturday.
Whitstable | Data | Folkestone |
10 | Shots on target | 8 |
4 | Shots off target | 6 |
4 | Shots blocked | 4 |
1 | Corners | 6 |
10 | Fouls conceded | 12 |
7 | Offside | 4 |
0 | Penalties | 0 |
Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Leo Mazzone (Victor Aiyelabola 61), James Brown, Luke Girt (Montrell Deslandes 83), Ollie Rowe (c), Liam Gillies, Tijan Jadama, Charles Etumnu (Trialist 70), Luke Medley (Dean James 62), Tom Mills, Jay Hards (Muhammed Cham 83).
Goals: Luke Medley 33, Tijan Jadama 56.
Folkestone Invicta
Henry Newcombe (Harvey Wright 83), Finn O’Mara, Alfie Paxman, Matt Newman (Jordan Wright 46), Callum Davies (c), Micheal Everitt, Scott Heard (Tyler Sterling 46), Ronnie Dolan, David Smith, Adem Ramadan (Clark Woodcock 69), Kieron McCann (Johan Ter Horst 46).
Goals: Adem Ramadan 19, Ollie Rowe o.g. 25, Clark Woodcock 71, Johan Ter Horst 79.
Attendance: 260
Referee: Lou Saunders
Assistants: Billy Woods & Steve Goldup