Folkestone Invicta confirm arrival of frontman Luke Holness and sign defender Toby Byron from Isthmian Premier rivals Hornchurch

Patience has paid off for Folkestone, who have finally confirmed the arrival of an experienced frontman.

Former Tonbridge, Braintree and Hemel player Luke Holness started playing for the Isthmian Premier outfit last month. The 25-year-old already has three Invicta goals, but his signing wasn’t officially confirmed until Thursday.

Folkestone joint-head coaches Roland Edge and Micheal Everitt have now got their man and Edge - who also has strengthened the club’s backline - hopes the addition of Holness will help spur the rest of their frontmen on to new heights after a mixed start to the campaign.

He said: “All these forwards want to chase a target for the season and they’re probably all still off that.

“But Luke has come in and been a breath of fresh air. He has lifted the benchmark.

“Luke felt it went a little bit wrong last year. But in the short time he has been with us, he has been great.”

Holness started in last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Carshalton, as did Toby Byron. The 6ft2in defender has arrived from league leaders Hornchurch.

But mid-table Folkestone went down at the War Memorial Sports Ground. They fell two goals behind and, although experienced defender Jake Goodman pulled one back in first-half stoppage time, former Gillingham winger Mark Marshall sealed victory.

Invicta will welcome captain Callum Davies back from a one-game suspension ahead of successive home matches against high-fliers Billericay this Saturday and Haringey on Tuesday.

The Essex club have been in fine form since they were knocked out of the FA Cup at Sheppey, while Haringey are struggling at the other end of the table but have performed well in the cups this term.

Former Folkestone midfielder Kadell Daniel came off the bench in Isthmian Premier