Manager Andy Drury bemoaned a lack of officiating consistency as Folkestone were pegged back on Saturday.

Forward Khale Da Costa put Invicta ahead in the early stages of their Isthmian Premier match against Hashtag United, but Drury’s side were reduced to 10 men in front of a crowd of 1,111 at Cheriton Road when defender Marvel Ekpiteta was given a second caution in the 66th minute.

Soon after, Hashtag equalised through substitute Harrison Day and Folkestone were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Drury reflected: “For the first 30 or 35 minutes, I thought it was some of the best football we have played all season. Then, the game fizzled out for the last 10 minutes of the first half.

“In the second half, it was pretty much the same until the sending-off.

“The referee has made a decision, which is fine, but he’s not done it for both sides. There’s no consistency and that’s what has killed us.

“If it was 11 versus 11, I think we would have won that game comfortably.

“But the performance in the first 30 or 35 minutes showed that we’re one of the better sides in the league. Then, we dug in after the sending-off.

“I thought the players were superb on Saturday in two different ways.”

It was the fourth time already this campaign Invicta had finished a match with a numerical disadvantage, albeit it's more than a month since they last did so.

“All games pretty much change when you’re a man down,” admitted Drury. “It changes the mentality of the game.

“Some might say you get better with 10 men but that’s never really the case. The ascendancy does go with the other team.

“The first booking on Saturday, Marv has not tripped him - the lad has tripped himself up and we’ve seen that on the video - and for the second one, I think Marv kicked the ball a yard.

“If that’s enough for a second yellow card, you will end up with eight or nine on the pitch most games.”

Da Costa’s goal was his second in as many matches as he broke the deadlock in the 12th minute.

Drury said: “He’s just got that bit of quality and, above all, he works hard for the team.

"It’s been a decent start for Khale.”

Invicta’s boss was also pleased with the options on the bench, even if Ekpiteta’s dismissal limited the way in which he could use them, with forward Tom Derry back from suspension.

“We have got good options,” said Drury. “It’s a good thing to have. We were using them in a bit of a different way on Saturday.

“It would have been nice if it was 11 versus 11. Evans Kouassi was on the bench, as well, and we just couldn’t see how we could get him on being down to 10 men.”

Next for Folkestone is a trip to Canvey Island, who have won four of their past six games in all competitions, this Saturday.

Drury, who will be without Ekpiteta, said: “They have found form, as teams always do before we play them! It’s a difficult place to go.

“But if we keep performing the way we are performing, I’m confident that we will pick up a lot of points.”

The game against Canvey is followed by two further away games before Invicta return to Cheriton Road action against rivals Dover on Bonfire Night.

Drury said: “You generally look at the table after 12 games so we’ll probably have a look after the Dover game.

“If we’re in the top eight, as we hope to be, that’s great. We have got Canvey and then we have Horsham and Carshalton in the league before that.

“They’re all tough games in this league.”