Faversham Town 1-4 Folkestone Invicta, Saturday February 18

It sounds like a convincing defeat, 1-4, but a bald scoreline – like Twitter – doesn't always tell the story. Faversham, reduced to 10 men after the sending-off of Matt Bourne in the 16th minute, actually played rather well for long spells of this Kent derby at Salters Lane this afternoon (Saturday February 18).

Folkestone failed to make their advantage pay until very late in the game as the willing Lilywhites ran their socks off, even creating a couple of excellent chances that, on a good day, would have given the match a vastly different complexion. 

A couple of showers and gusts of wind did little to aid good football, but a decent crowd, with almost as many visitors as home fans, were kept entertained by the twists and turns of this eventful match.

Folkestone were the better starters and took an early grip on midfield, but an error at the back allowed Faversham's Danny Hockton to seize on a loose ball, adjust and fire in a right-foot shot that Folkestone keeper Jack Delo could only parry back to the striker; Hockton made sure his second effort found the net: 1-0 to Faversham after eight minutes.

But in the 16th minute a defence-splitting pass put Folkestone's Darren Smith through with only keeper Rob French to beat; Matt Bourne's unsubtle foul brought down the Invicta man a few yards short of the box and the ref had no option but to send Bourne off. Folkestone, however, failed to capitalise on the free-kick.

The Lilywhites had to reorganise, with James Peacock dropping into the four-man backline, leaving a trio of Dave Botterill, new man Sam Robinson and Justin Ascheri to battle and harry in midfield. By maintaining a two-man attack of Adrian Stone and Danny Hockton, the Lilywhites managed to make life difficult for a by-now nervous Invicta defence. However, the visitors equalised in the 38th minute when a penalty was awarded for a Rob French foul in the box; Stuart King put the spot-kick away with aplomb, and the sides reached half-time with a goal apiece.

The consensus over the half-time cuppa was that it would only be a matter of time before player-advantage would tell, but for long stretches of the second period it was Faversham who made the running, and the introduction of the meteoric Renford Tenyue, replacing Adrian Stone up front, gave the Invicta defenders fresh headaches.

It wasn't until the 70th minute that Invicta took the lead, with a goal from defender Frankie Chappell.

Nor did the resolve of the Lilywhites crumble even as they conceded a further goal to Invicta's James Everitt on 84 minutes.

However, Stuart King dealt Faversham a final cruel blow in the 94th minute when he extravagantly chipped a shot over the helpless Rob French. The goal's comic quality must have sent the Folkestone fans extremely happy – it even made me chuckle. But that cruel coup de grace and the lopsided scoreline were undeserved: Faversham can take many plusses from today's performance.

Sponsor Cairn Research's Lilywhites man of the match award went to full-back Nathan Simpson, who had a stonking game, but I hope he shares his bubbly with the rest of the lads: they may not be "invicta" but they were indefatigable.

Note to the Kent Messenger: don't crib this match report, I've packed it with deliberate errors just to snag you. Send someone along!  

Note to Jon Homer: you're welcome!

Next three: Burgess Hill Town v Faversham Town on Tuesday (February 21); a long way to travel on a Tuesday night, but Burgess Hill stand a lowly 19th in the table, the Lilywhites need to pick up at least a point from this one.

Maidstone United v Faversham Town on Saturday (February 25). Well worth a trip to Sittingbourne – where Maidstone are currently lodgers – to see if the Lilywhites can repeat the shock win they grabbed at Salters Lane in November.

Faversham Town v Godalming Town on Saturday March 3. At last another home match for the Salters Lane faithful. Godalming are top-10 at the moment but vulnerable: the Lilywhites came home with the points in the teams' previous meeting in November thanks to a Tom Hickman goal.

• See Faversham Town's website http://www.favershamtownfc.co.uk for the latest Lilywhites news, fixtures, and events.