Folkestone Invicta 0

Tonbridge Angels 0

By Mick Cork

IF we believe what we're told – and we've no good reason not to – Tonbridge have at least one of the more generous wage budgets in the Ryman Premier. Yet they came to the Buzzlines without a point to their name from three games.

Folkestone themselves had just the one point and would have loved to have pulled off their first win of the season in this Kent derby.

But given that likeable Angels boss (what a joke that 'Angels' has always been) Tommy Warrilow may have needed a win to still be in work on Tuesday, I for one was happy with this stalemate, though the longer it went on the more I wanted us to sneak victory.

Visiting fans on the terraces were already applauding a 'goal' when Lee Browning's well struck effort was clawed off the line by the outstanding Jack Delo on 16 minutes, but Folkestone had their moments too, and 0-0 at half-time was pretty much the picture.

As was clear at Sutton on Saturday, one thing promoted Invicta have to come to terms with is the higher level of gamesmanship in this division and Browning typified that with his whingeing when he went down under a moderately robust challenge from Liam Friend soon after the interval.

If we were worried about the standard of refereeing in Ryman One, I for one have not seen an official that doesn't worry me yet in this higher division and the totally unimpressive Paul Harris – who has previous with Invicta – awarded a penalty out of nothing to the visitors, apparently for shirt-pulling by Frank Chappell on Frannie Collin on 72 minutes.

But Collin – like Browning a Dover reject – saw his penalty well saved by Delo who did even better keeping out the follow-up effort from the same player.

Moments earlier the tireless Paul Jones had wasted a glorious opportunity for Invicta when put through clear on goal at the other end.

From then on, if any side was going to win this it should have been Folkestone but it wasn't to be, and perhaps former Invicta (and Hythe) player Warrilow's P45 can stay in a drawer in the chairman's desk at Longmead a little longer.

Invicta: Delo 9; Vincent 7, Friend 7, Chappell 8, Dickson 8, Burchell 7 (Edge 80); Kember 7 (Williams 80, 6), M Everitt 7, Smith 7; Jones 8, J Everitt 7 (Austin 60, 7). Subs not used: Webb, Tyson