Cugley begins search for new goalkeeper

Folkestone Invicta manager Neil Cugley has begun the search for a new goalkeeper after losing Tony Kessell to Dartford earlier in the week.

Kessell, 27, who lives five minutes away from Dartford’s Princes Park Stadium, signed for the Ryman League Division One South club following a training session on Monday night.

Cugley told www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk  that he was disappointed to lose Kessell,
whose spent the last four years at the Buzzlines Stadium and has returned to one of his former clubs.

“It was a huge disappointment Kess leaving because he has been a consistent performer and has won many games for us,” he said.  

“We spent hours yesterday afternoon with the Football Directors who eventually backed me to give Tony an excellent eighteen month contract but I think the lure of playing in front of big crowds and also only a five minute walk from his home to the ground was too much, and so the club wish him all the best for the future. 

“The talking regarding bringing in a new goalkeeper hasn’t stopped since Tony left yesterday and it won’t stop between now and Saturday because we do need a goalkeeper of some stature and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Invicta welcome Ashford Town (Middlesex) to the Buzzlines Stadium on Saturday, a side who lie two places above the Seasiders in the Ryman Premier League, separated by just a point. 

Ashford have drawn both of their last away games 1-1, at Leyton and Carshalton Athletic.  They have also played Worthing, a side Invicta travel to next Saturday.

Cugley said: “We’ve got someone from the club going to watch the Worthing versus Ashford game, which is quite handy as they’re our next two opponents and it will be interesting to scout their strengths and weaknesses for when we play them”.

Folkestone returned home from Staines Town empty handed last Saturday, by a slender 1-0 defeat. 

“We definitely deserved a draw; anybody that was there would say that, even their manager said that after the game,” reflected Cugley.  

“It was so disappointing to have so much possession as we did second half without really testing their goalkeeper enough.

“I don’t think we created enough chances for the possession we had and ironically our two best chances fell to Jimmy Corbett who’s the best finisher in the club but on the day he couldn’t finish them and it just summed our afternoon up really”.

As documented last week, the Seasiders would were looking forward to playing at Wheatsheaf Park due to the quality of the playing surface at the ground. 

Cugley praised:  “The pitch was in a really good condition for this time of the year and you could notice the difference between theirs and ours.  

“It was a lot flatter and that ensured the ball ran a bit truer and it did help our better players to pass the ball round more effectively.

“At half time I thought there wasn’t a lot wrong with the first half performance and they (Staines) hadn’t had a lot of chances themselves and it was a pretty tight game so I felt we could get the goals to come back into it. 

“I just told the players to remain patient and to keep doing what they were doing.  It was important that Mark Saunders lasted an hour and he just needs to get his fitness back up.  Having him back helps lift the whole team really”.

Saturday’s game against Ashford is certainly one Invicta will be keen to pick up all three points from, in an effort to climb away from the relegation zone. 

Folkestone have not scored in their last two games, and the Invicta manager said: “It is a bit of a worry that we’re finding goals hard to come by because we need them to stay up but to be fair I would be even more worried if we weren’t creating any chances and not looking like scoring.  

“We just need to be more clinical in front of goal and get a settled side again because we’ve had too many players in the final third coming and going to get any consistency there. 

“Goals and wins breed confidence but these are the sort of games the players and the club relish because they are vitally important, maybe the most vital of our whole season and we’ve got to try our hardest to get as much out of them as possible. 

“We’ve got to win our home games, especially Saturday and then we have Worthing away, which will be a tough game as they’ve picked up a few decent results recently as you know.”

Cugley confirmed that centre back Roy Guiver has left the Club explaining, “To be fair to Roy he came to the club when we were cutting things back quite drastically and we were going with mostly local lads and I felt Roy could do us a good job and he has played really well for us.  

“But obviously he wanted regular football and with the arrival of Kola and Lamby, this wasn’t available so he went back to Hythe to just play football.” 

When questioned about the possibility of further additions to the playing squad after a new goalkeeper has been signed, Cugley divulged, “I’m still looking at players to bring in but as I said before I want to bring in players that will strengthen the side not bring then in just for the sake of it, which is maybe what some people want.  

“I think we maybe need 17 more points to be safe and that’s my prime goal at the moment, we need to stay up and we want to get those points as soon as we can.”

Despite speculation on their fans’ forum, Cugley insisted that former Hythe Town striker Damian Abel is tied on a contract until 2008.

Cugley added:  “I can definitely clarify for you and anyone else for that matter, that Damian is on a contract until 2008 and is getting paid and he’s no way up for sale to any club.  

“He’s an excellent, young, local player and they’re pretty rare and there’s no way we would let him go.  Damian will be fit for Saturday and he was rested last weekend as a precautionary to prevent him getting a nastier knee injury.”

Visit Folkestone Invicta’s website:  www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk

Folkestone Invicta  v  Ashford Town (Middlesex)
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 3^rd February 2007
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Buzzlines Stadium, Cheriton Road, Folkestone