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Sport

Folkestone Invicta under-13 boys’ team complete double after unbeaten East Kent Youth League Division 1 season with Merv Willis Cup win

By: Thomas Reeves treeves@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 05:00, 12 May 2024

Updated: 11:46, 12 May 2024

Unbeaten Folkestone Invicta under-13 boys’ youth team have been celebrating after a near-perfect season.

The side, led by coaches John Ross and Greg Newman, completed a double during their 2023/24 campaign.

It has been a season to remember for unbeaten Folkestone Invicta Youth under-13s

Having won 14 and drawn one of their East Kent Youth League Division 1 fixtures, they were crowned Merv Willis Cup winners last Saturday.

It was a second successive league triumph for the team, which replicated Arsenal’s 2003/04 Premier League “Invincibles” season in their own way. Their last loss was a 2-0 away defeat to Whitstable in November 2022.

Newman said: “We won Division 2 last year. We had been in Division 2 for three or four years and had never managed to get out of it.

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“But, last season, we won it. Then, we have gone up to Division 1 - and we have won it without losing a match!

“It’s been a fairytale season with getting through to the Cup Final and winning that, as well.

Folkestone Invicta Youth under-13. Back row, left to right, Ramsey Bartholomew, Daniel Ross, Flynn Topley, Hayden Skinner, Michael Keane, Ewan McOubrie, Henry Worthy, Charlie Blackman, Aryan Thakor. Front row, Rudy Gibson, Jack Smith, Ben Jeffree, Mason Clayton, Oli Houghton, Stan Newman

“We would have won every single game - but for one draw in the league.

“But it’s still an ‘Invincible’ season in the way that Arsenal did it.”

Folkestone Invicta Youth were way clear of the league runners-up - who, ironically, were Folkestone Invicta Youth Juniors.

“We were 15 points clear in a 15-game season,” Newman noted.

“The next team finished with five defeats, so it was quite a substantial win.”

Hat-trick hero and top scorer Flynn Topley put in a player-of-the-match performance in their Merv Willis Cup Final 8-3 win against Snowdown & Aylesham

Folkestone Invicta Youth won 8-3 against Snowdown & Aylesham in the Merv Willis Cup showdown.

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Hat-trick hero Flynn Topley - their leading scorer - Jack Smith (2), Oli Houghton, Henry Worthy and Mason Clayton netted before captain Hayden Skinner lifted the trophy.

Newman stated: “That really flattered us. The other team folded a little bit in the second half. In the first half, we scored, they equalised - Snowdown & Aylesham kept coming back - but we won that in the end.”

Glory at the end of the season has been a culmination of years of hard work together for a tight-knit group.

“We’re a team that has been together for five years,” Newman noted.

“We have never achieved anything like this. It’s not like we have done it year in, year out - like some other teams have done in the past - we have really had to build, grow, coach and develop these lads. It’s a really lovely story.”

Looking ahead to 2024/25, Newman has mixed emotions, with some of their players set to leave and link-up with Folkestone Invicta’s higher-division Kent Youth League side.

He said: “We have got a couple of players who are going to leave for the Kent League side.

“That’s a bit sad but it happens. We have to let it happen.

“They have really shown their ability to perform at different levels.”

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