Folkestone Invicta 2-0 Maidstone United - They're a group of lads that gave everything, a really professional performance to repay our outstanding travelling fans, says delighted Folkestone Invicta boss Jay Saunders

Folkestone Invicta 2 – 0 Maidstone United
Location	Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Bournville Avenue, Chatham, Kent ME4 6LR
Kickoff	12/09/2025 20:00

FOLKESTONE INVICTA  2-0 MAIDSTONE UNITED
The Emirates FA Cup Second Qualifying Round
Friday 12 September 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Maidstone Road

FOLKESTONE INVICTA manager Jay Saunders says his players gave everything to create a FA Cup giant-killing act to deservedly beat full-time outfit Maidstone United.

The Isthmian League Premier Division outfit extended their unbeaten run to eight games, whilst playing away from Cheriton Road due to ongoing pitch works as they turn the playing surface from grass to artificial turf.

Folkestone Invicta attracted their largest crowd of the season of 1,235 to Maidstone Road in Chatham.

Folkestone Invicta went into this Second Qualifying Round tie in fourth-place, having picked up four wins and two draws from their opening six games and they have beaten Sevenoaks Town (3-0, in Ashford) and goals from strikers Donell Thomas, 22, and Ade Yusuff, 31, sealed their passage into the Third Qualifying Round for the first time in three years.

Maidstone United, meanwhile, arrived here sitting in 15^th place in the Enterprise National League South table, having picked up two wins, four draws and two defeats and George Elokobi’s side have crashed out of the competition at the first hurdle and have now failed to score in their last three outings, conceding eight goals.

“You could see what it meant to the supporters at the end. They’re travelling a long way at the moment, so it’s nice to repay them with a win,” said a delighted Saunders.

“The supporters have been fantastic, so I think you could see what it meant to them at the end.  (Playing a) FA Cup (tie) on a Friday night, it was a bit unusual for us but it’s nice to get through.”

When asked what his players gave him tonight, Saunders, who has previously managed Maidstone United, Margate and Tonbridge Angels, replied, “I think everything, a really professional performance.  They’re a group of lads that are new and today’s starting line-up, we’ve got three from last season and Jack Jebb on the bench, so it’s completely a new group.

“They’re a group that are enjoying being together and they’re picking up wins and enjoying it.”

Folkestone Invicta came out with all guns blazing, creating their first opening after only 69 seconds.

Liam Smith – who plays on the right of a three-man central defence – launched a throw towards the edge of the penalty area for Yusuff to chest down into the path of Thomas, whose right-footed drive deflected past the right-hand post.

Yusuff and right-wing-back Ben Mason linked up inside the Maidstone defensive third and central midfielder Mikey Berry’s right-footed first-time drive from 25-yards rolled into the gloves of Nathan Harness for a comfortable ninth minute save.

Maidstone United went close to scoring from their first of 15 corners.

Riley Court sent the ball in from the right and full-back Sam Oguntayo rose in the middle and sent his header just over the crossbar from within a crowd of players.

When asked what threats Elokobi’s men posed his side, Saunders replied: “With Maidstone, you have to defend very well. They’re very front foot, they play really aggressive and you’ve got to be able to match that and stand up to it and I thought we did.

“We dealt with most things into the box and that’s what they’re about and I was really pleased with our reaction.”

Thomas delivered a hanging corner in from the left and the ball was cleared out to Smith, who hooked a right-footed volley screaming across goal and past the far post following the home side’s fourth of six first-half corners.

Mason fed the impressive Thomas down the right and his dinked pass set up Yusuff, who flashed a right-footed shot into the side-netting when well-placed as Folkestone Invicta continued to play on the front foot and made their full-time opponents look very ordinary indeed.

“That’s big, obviously you start and you don’t want them to be camped in your own half, so you want to start on the front foot. You want to play in their half and we did that.  When we started linking passes, we looked good, so there were loads of positives,” said Saunders.

“I thought Pigs (Pigott) and Ade (Yusuff) were a real handful.  They’re opposite, they’re different players but I think they complement each other really well, so it was unlucky and I thought it was in from where I was. It was a good move.”

Midfielder Court was a threat for Maidstone United and reached the by-line down the left and put over a deep cross, which was knocked down by striker Deon Moore but his strike partner Patrick Casey skied his shot over the crossbar from six-yards.

Folkestone Invicta’s front three of Thomas, Pigott and Yusuff were a threat during the first half and a comfortable flying save from Stones’ goalkeeper Harness denied Pigott scoring against an old club in the 22^nd minute.

Pigott drew a foul from Thomas-James Bramble (earning the centre-half a yellow card) and Pigott stepped up to stroke a right-footed free-kick from 30-yards over the three-man wall towards the top right-hand corner, only for Harness to dive to his left to comfortably pluck the ball out of the air and hold.

“It’s a long way out but he fancies himself with them. I’ve worked with him many times and seen him put them in the top corner, so I’ve got no issue with him taking it on,” added Saunders.

Maidstone United went up the other end and created an opening following their second corner of the game, in the third phase of the set-piece.

Sam Corne cut the ball back from the right, defender David Agbontohoma teed up Casey, who swept his first-time shot over the bar from 18-yards.

“They were half-chances though,” admitted Saunders.

“I did never feel they were clear-cut sort of really caused us problems, so from my point of view as a manager, a lot of those things were from distance, we weren’t too concerned about.”

The game had a one-goal feel to it at this point - and Folkestone Invicta deservedly took the lead with 36 minutes and 20 seconds on the clock on the counter-attack.

Thomas was close to the centre-circle inside the Folkestone half, before he played the ball out wide to the right to Yusuff, who was inside the Maidstone half.

He cut in from the wing before rolling a right-footed pass inside to Thomas, who produced a sublime moment of skill by turning Maidstone centre-half Fowler some 30-yards from goal before racing into the penalty area and clinically placing his right-footed shot under the goalkeeper into the bottom left-hand corner from 17-yards to score his third goal of the season.

“Donell does that consistently in training,” revealed Saunders.

“Donell’s got good quality and we felt if we could get the ball into our front three in good areas, we could cause problems.

“It’s a hell of a turn but to turn and to then actually finish it, is the difference.  Yes, it’s a great finish and a great bit of play from us.”

You would expect a full-time outfit to be dangerous from set-pieces and Cort whipped in their fourth corner and Fowler almost made amends, guiding his free header across the keeper and just past the far post. But not to score from any of their 15 corners on the night - when you have hours and hours during the week to practice them - is simply embarrasing!

Saunders was asked his thoughts going into the interval with the lead.

“Manage the first 15, you know you’re going to get a reaction, so manage the first 15, be sensible, when we’ve got to slow things down or pick things up and try to find passes and try to find people and our front men.

“We obviously had a great start, like you want that. You want to ride out the storm, first 15. We’ve scored a great goal and really pleased with that, the front three casing problems.”

Elokobi switched from a back-four to three-at-the-back at the interval and David Sesay and Court linked up well down the right and Court’s dinked cross from within the channel was plucked out of the air by Folkestone keeper Ted Collins after only 31 seconds.

But Folkestone Invicta clinically sealed the deal by doubling their lead with only 61 seconds on the clock, following a sweeping move involving their impressive front three.

Thomas played the ball in from the left, Pigott slipped the ball through to Yusuff, who took a touch, cut onto his right-foot before clinically placing his shot into the bottom left-hand corner from eight-yards to score his sixth goal of the season.

Saunders replied: “Was that (61 seconds) into the second half, was it?  I didn’t realise it was that quick!

“It’s a great little link-up play. Ade was a handful. The ball then falls down and Pigs plays a lovely return ball into Ade and Ade’s been on fire lately and it’s a great finish, so I’m pleased that he’s continued that.”

Maidstone United went close to pulling a goal back following their fifth corner of the game (6:12).

Court played the ball in from the right towards the near-post and Bramble found a pocket of space at the near-post to poke his shot towards the bottom right-hand corner, but Ted Collins failed to pick the ball up and fumbled the ball behind.

The Stones were in control of the second half and holding midfielder Corne swung in a free-kick from the left and substitute John Gilbert’s header bounced into Collins’ gloves for a comfortable gather.

Maidstone United failed to score following Sesay’s second long throw into the Folkestone Invicta box in the 64^th minute.

Sesay’s throw was flicked on at the near-post by Fowler and this lead to a goal-mouth scramble and the ball was clawed away from a crowded goal-line.

“That was probably the point weren’t it. I was disappointed with how many set-pieces we gave away,” admitted Saunders.

“When you’re playing full-time teams, that’s what you want to limit them to and I was disappointed that we gave away so much today.  We’re normally good at that but in all fairness on that occasion Ted scrambled it away.

“It’s really hard, there were so many bodies in that bottom end, you can’t really see what’s happening. He dealt with it and that’s the main thing!”

Maidstone United kept knocking on the door and Gilbert cut the ball back from within the right-channel for Bramble to sweep his first-time shot looping over Collins’ crossbar from 18-yards as the game reached the final 20 minutes, as the Stones failed to score following their ninth corner of the game.

Substitute Ruben Carvalho cut in from the right before Moore dragged his right-footed shot across the Folkestone Invicta keeper and past the far post from 25-yards, and right-winger Jephte Tanga was a threat with his pace when he came on in the 74^th minute, as some Maidstone United fans started heading for the exits.

Folkestone Invicta weathered the storm, however, and created their second and last chance of the second half (39:58) when high left-wing-back Montel McKenzie played the ball inside to substitute Jacob Strouts, whose speculative right-footed shot from 30-yards rolled into Harness’ gloves for a comfortable save.

Reflecting on his strike options, Saunders, who brought on Stouts (81^st minute) and Jake Hutchinson (in stoppage time), replied: “I don’t just class it as a front three. We’ve also got Strouts and we’ve got Jake (Hutchinson) and we’ve got good options.

“Pigott has just come in, Ade’s already been here, so he knows what it’s all about but I think they all compliment each other well, even when we brought Strouts’ in, you could see what he’s all about with Jake, so we’ve got good options there.

“Donell’s picked up good runs, he’s got good pace, good ability, so yes, I was really pleased.”

With jubilant Folkestone Invicta fans taunting Elokobi with “sacked in the morning” chants, a readymade replacement should he part ways would be Jamie Coyle, the former Maidstone United centre-half, who was sat in the stand to take in this Friday night Kent derby.

Maidstone United’s substitute striker Dajon Golding – who since leaving Cray Wanderers in 2023 has been up in Scotland playing for Cove Rangers, Banks O’Dee (loan) and Elgin City - fed Carvalho, who cut inside and cracked a left-footed drive from 20-yards, which was comfortably held at head height by an untroubled Collins, which proved to be Maidstone United’s last kick of their FA Cup campaign this season, by which point most of their fans had long gone.

“I think we got into the better areas, they put a lot of balls into our box, which you expect when you’re chasing the game but again they’re a full-time outfit, the fitness levels are going to be a bit higher, so I guess they’re going to have chances and when you’re 2-0 up, you don’t need to commit the bodies so much,” explained Saunders, as the sponsors’ man-of-the-match went to Lokko, a former Maidstone United centre-half.

“I never felt, I never went (they’re going to score here). It was only that chance scrambled off the line, other than that, I felt quite ok about it.

“I thought the back three – Ted didn’t really have a save to make, I know the one he cleared out. He made a mistake when he let it run out but then other than that, the back three, Joel (Oderniran) played 60 minutes with one eye because he got an elbow and his eye closed up and he wanted to carry on and I thought Kevin Lokko, Liam Smith and Joel were very good and it’s so pleasing.”

Saunders’ men are on the road again on Monday 15 September (19:45) when they travel to Essex to play eleventh-placed side Aveley (two wins, three draws from six games) - only if Brett Munyard's side beat or lose to AFC Sudbury in Suffolk in The FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

“We’ve got Aveley (on) Monday in the League and that’s all I’m focused on – if they don’t draw tomorrow – so we’ll be concentrating on that,” added Saunders.

“That’s all our thoughts, myself, Blaky and Parky (Lloyd Blackman and Tom Parkinson), will go away and start watching them, look forward to that game.

“I’m expecting a tough game, Aveley on a Monday is always tough. I guess we’ve got an extra day’s recovery on them, which helps but it’s always tough there, so we’ve just got to see what we can do basically.

“You’ve got to remember we’ve been away from home every game (playing two home League games in Margate) and on top of that it’s a completely new squad, so I can only be delighted with the boys, but it changes quickly, you go and lose your next two games and everyone’s ‘what’s happened?’, so we’ve just got to now keep grinding and keep digging out results.

The 46-year-old was asked if he had a message for the Folkestone Invicta fans. It must’ve felt like another away game for them, with Chatham being closer to Maidstone than the Kent coast.

“I thought their support was outstanding. Seeing them all at the end (celebrating the win) and that’s what it’s all about and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to repay them for all the travelling they’re doing at the moment and I’m glad we’ve been able to repay them with another win.”

Folkestone Invicta: Ted Collins, Ben Mason, Montel McKenzie, Kevin Lokko, Joel-Michael Odeniran, Liam Smith, Donell Thomas (Ronnie Dolan 83), Mikey Berry (Bivesh Gurung 66), Joe Pigott (Jake Hutchinson 90), Ade Yusuff (Josh Strouts 81), Dean Rance.
Subs: Isaac Ogunseri, Jack Jebb, Dillon Simmons

Goals: Donell Thomas 37, Ade Yusuff 47

Booked: Ade Yusuff 26, Montel McKenzie 71, Bivesh Gurung 90

Maidstone United: Nathan Harness, David Agbontohoma, Sam Oguntayo (Leo Hamblin 82), Sam Corne, George Fowler, Thomas-James Bramble, Riley Court (Ruben Carvalho 74), Teo Kurtaran (John Gilbert 59), Deon Moore, Patrick Casey (Dajon Golding 59), David Sesay (Jephte Tanga 74).
Subs: Lenny Holden, Malachi Mbogba

Booked: Thomas-James Bramble 21, David Sesay 73

Attendance: 1,235
Referee: Mr Benjamin McDonald
Assistants: Mr Daniel Doyle & Mr Ryan Chantrill-Smith
Fourth Official: Mr Simon Cutler