Margate 2 Folkestone Invicta 1

TWO goals from Lawrence Yiga gave Margate victory their local rivals in Tuesday night’s Kent Senior Cup quarter-final tie at Hartsdown Park on Tuesday night.

Yiga hit the winner in the 69th minute when Margate spread the play from left to right and he took the ball on before slotting a low shot across goal into the far corner.

Yiga had also been Margate’s hero on Saturday when he hit the winner in a 2-1 home win over East Thurrock, his first goal for Chris Kinnear’s side.

This game had got off to a lively start as both sides scored following set pieces within the opening ten minutes.

Yiga opened the scoring after just seven minutes when he rose to head home the game’s first corner sent over by Greg Oates from the left.

But the lead was short-lived as Walid Matata equalised two minutes later when he smashed the ball into the net after home keeper Daren Behcet parried from Chris Wright following a Steve Norman free kick.

Invicta welcomed back captain Adam Flanagan from suspension in place of injured left back Paul Lamb and opted for a 3-5-2 formation with Flanagan joining John Guest and Kevin Watson at the heart of the defence, with Norman pushed forward into midfield.

Visiting goalkeeper Tony Kessell made a reflex save with his feet to deny Margate captain Berti Brayley when Ian Hilaire chipped the ball in after 12 minutes and striker Danny Hockton shot wide following a corner from the right on the quarter of an hour mark.

A Brayley shot then flashed just wide of the Invicta goal from the edge of the penalty area after 32 minutes.

But Invicta finished the first half with good chances of their own as Norman shot wide from the left hand side of the box after 36 minutes when goalscorer Matata dispossessed centre half Robin Trott and set up the chance.

And James Fraser fired wide with the goal at his mercy after 41 minutes when goalkeeper Behcet saved from Wright in a move also involving Guest and Matata.

Invicta had a couple of half chances at the start of the second half as Norman lobbed wide from the left hand side and Matata shot into the side netting from the right.

At the other end, Inivcta player-coach Mark Saunders was there to clear from close to the line when Brayley played in a free kick from a dangerous position on the right hand edge of the Invicta box after 58 minutes.

For Invicta, a Wright header was cleared off the line following an Invicta corner from the right three minutes later.

Following Yiga’s winner, Invicta centre half Guest got in before Brayley at the expense of a corner after Hockton had broke down the left hand side and played the ball in.

Invicta’s Watson picked up the game’s only booking after 84 minutes but appeared to play the ball when Yiga sent Brayley racing through and goalkeeper Kessell touched Oates’ subsequent free kick over the crossbar for a corner.

MARGATE: Behcet, Oates, Hilaire, Edwards, Trott, Donovan, Yiga, Gradley, Brayley, Hockton, Standen. Unused subs: Keister, Damoah, Sesay, Okikiolu, Jalloh.

FOLKESTONE INVICTA: Kessell, Watson, Saunders, Flanagan, Guest, M. Everitt (Myall 74 mins), Chandler, Fraser (Neilson 78 mins), Matata, Wright (Playford 86 mins), Norman. Unused subs: J. Everitt, Mann.