Folkestone Invicta manager Jay Saunders reacts to 2-1 Isthmian Premier win at Chatham Town

Boss Jay Saunders’ decision to freshen-up Folkestone’s squad reaped rewards for their derby victory at Chatham on Bank Holiday Monday.

Unbeaten Invicta moved into the Isthmian Premier play-off spots in the early stages of this campaign - leapfrogging Chats in the process - as they beat Kevin Hake’s team 2-1 to end Chatham’s unbeaten start.

While Saunders made four switches for Folkestone’s second game in three days, bringing in Ade Yusuff and Jake Hutchinson up front, while defender Ben Mason also came in and the vastly-experienced Dean Rance replaced the injured Mikey Berry in midfield, the Medway outfit were unchanged from their 2-0 weekend win at Aveley.

“I looked at our squad from last year and I just didn’t think there was depth to it,” said Saunders, whose troops played their first ‘home’ fixture this term as they were 2-1 victors over St Albans at Margate on Saturday. “So, it was something we wanted to look at.

“To be able to leave out Stroutsy (Josh Strouts) and Kweki (Lucan), and put in Ade and Jake, who were fresh, and I felt they looked fresh.

“Obviously, they made no changes. I kind of had a feeling they wouldn’t so we thought ‘Right, let’s freshen it up.’.

“You lose Mikey Berry, who has been excellent in the last two games, and bring Dean Rance in. It shows the strength, with Ben Mason at right-back instead of Brad Walledge.

“They’re all positives.”

Berry, 19, wasn’t involved at Chatham, having come through 90 minutes against St Albans.

Saunders revealed: “It’s a groin injury.

“I think it’s more fatigue. He’s gone from not starting the season to two games back-to-back, which I think sort of caught-up with him. It’s one of those.

“Hopefully, he’ll be fine this weekend.”

Yusuff claimed a goal and an assist as