LESS IS MORE NOW AS INVICTA TAIL OFF

FOLKESTONE INVICTA manager Neil Cugley isn’t used to not winning most Saturdays – but at least it’s saving him a few quid! The Ryman South champions came close to promotion three years on the spin before actually achieving it last April. They finally got over the line and back into the Ryman Premier, and long-serving Cugley says the season has been a bit of an eye-opener for everyone. Invicta sat 17th before yesterday’s game with Wingate & Finchley and the manager accepts it’s been a difficult return to Step 3. But Cugley has loved every minute of it and he believes they will push on again next season. “It’s been a new experience for everyone, myself, the players, the board and the supporters. They are the ones who have maybe found it difficult that we’re not winning most weeks a bit more than we have, but you understand that. It’s natural. “We were up the top of the league below for a good few years, that means more often than not we were winning games. This year that’s not been the case. We’re all having to deal with not being at that end of the table – including my wife! “It used to be most Saturdays we were out in town having nice dinners. Now I can be a bit difficult at weekends if we don’t win. At least we’ve spent less on eating out, cancelling those tables!” Jokes aside, Cugley – who will have managed over 1,050 games for the club by the end of the season – wouldn’t change the situation for what they had before. “People ask if we would rather be where we are here in the Premier or back up near the top of the South, and it’s no contest for me,” he said. “It’s a difficult league, but we’re enjoying being a part of it and fingers crossed we will keep progressing.”