Veteran returns to halt slide

Folkestone Invicta are preparing for a tough Bank Holiday weekend programme with manager Neil Cugley looking for an urgent turnaround in form after their disappointing start to the new Ryman campaign, writes Mick Cork.

And in Ramsgate away on Saturday and Hythe Town at the Fullick's Stadium on Monday, Cugley's Ryman South side are facing two of their more difficult opponents over recent seasons.

Invicta have recorded just win so far in contrast to their weekend's opponents. Scot Porter’s Hythe Town squad are third and unbeaten while ex-Folkestone favourite Tim Dixon’s Ramsgate, who now include former Cheriton Road stalwart James ‘Ratty’ Everitt among their ranks, have won two of their four outings so far after 2-0 win away at Merstham and an impressive 4-0 triumph over Guernsey in the Channel Islands.

But as he bids to halt his side's slide, Cugley is relieved that he can at least call upon the services of player and assistant manager Roland Edge for the first time this season. Edge missed all Folkestone’s pre-season games through work commitment and has since got married and been away on honeymoon.

Edge was at Herne Bay on Tuesday to see Folkestone lose 2-1 and Cugley admitted: "I’d love to have played him, but he wasn’t long off the flight back from Las Vegas, so that wasn’t really feasible. Too many people underestimate Edgey and only realise just how important he can be when his missing.

"Apart from the win over Sittingbourne, we’ve been far too disjointed and patchy so far this season. We’ve played really well at times but we’re not doing it for long enough periods and have lost games we should have won because of that. We need Edgey to keep things going. We’ve missed Darren Smith, of course, but he and Edgey were great at keeping the players at it and that’s what we’ve been missing."