Saturday 2nd May 2015 @3pm
Ryman League Division One South Play off Final
FOLKESTONE INVICTA 0-3 MERSTHAM
The Fullicks Stadium, Cheriton Road, Folkestone.
Admission: £9
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 1,465
Refreshments: Guinness £3.90, Bovril, £1, Salted nuts 80p.
My last visit to Cheriton Road was the last game of
2010/2011 season when they lost 1-0 to Maidstone which was a winner takes all
to stay in the Ryman League. Many changes at the ground since then due to the
storm damage last season which meant the main stand is now at the opposite
touchline and the old stand without its roof is open terracing. It still has that historic ground feel to it
with its low covered stand behind one goal and the open terracing behind the
other goal.
Turnstiles were open at both ends of the ground to cope with
the expected large attendance and almost 1,500 turned up for the game 90% must
have been from Kent but the Merstham fans behind the goal gave a noisy account of
themselves. I had turned up about 2pm
and procured my programme order before parking in Morrison and having lunch
there. There was a queue to get in 10 minutes before kick-off but got in as the
teams had a minute silence for those lost in the Nepal earthquake.
Folkestone completely dominated the first half but went in
at the interval 2 goals down with Merstham having 3 attacks in the whole half.
The first on 6 minutes resulted in Cooper turning up in the area on the blind
side and scored while the defence had their arms up for offside. Merstham really should have been down to 10
men when their centre back pushed his head into the Folkestone strikers face
but the referee claimed to be unsighted.
The linesman in front of me should have seen it though. The ref allowed
a lot of illegal tackles to go unpunished so the home fans were not impressed
with his performance. The second goal arrived
just before halftime thanks to the giant centre back Henriquez. Then the killer blow came 6 minutes into the
second half when the Merstham captain curled a free kick into the corner to
make it 3-0. This knocked the stuffing out of the home side and the rest of the
match was controlled by Merstham with a passing masterclass. The only spoiler was a group of a dozen home
teenagers looking to cause trouble with the away fans but the stewards brought
in from Dover rounded them up and escorted them to the exit. So another play
off defeat for Folkestone to digest before next season and a Merstham team
needing some fresh blood to survive in the higher league.
I stopped off at The Lion of Kent in Bearsted for a comfort
break and the Bearsted FC players were enjoying an end of season beer or three.
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