Folkestone Invicta returned to action as they went down 3-0 at home to Coca-Cola League Division One club Gillingham at the Buzzlines Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After their well-documented financial problems, Invicta will have been pleased to have this game to focus on and they were not disgraced against their professional counterparts. Gillingham manager Mark Stimson sent down his first team squad in a match covered by Sky Sports News.

Luke Rooney, Mark McCammon and Chris Palmer scored the Gillingham goals as they played their first match since winning last season's League Division Two Play Off Final 1-0 against Shrewsbury Town at Wembley.

Invicta started with the majority of the side which had finished last season, plus Michael Yianni and Billy Sommerville.

Local lad Yianni has returned to the club after injury curtailed his progress at Margate, while teenager Sommerville has been training with the club and the former Hythe midfielder was rewarded with the sponsor's man of the match award.

Invicta's best moments came during the opening quarter of an hour as Gillingham goalkeeper Alan Julian raced out to clear from James Dryden after James Everitt's through ball and Everitt shot at Julian with a good chance when Dryden returned the compliment.

At the other end, Rooney hit a low shot at goalkeeper Jack Delo after John Nutter's ball found him on the right hand side of the penalty area and Chris Weston hit a low shot wide.

Gillingham then began to create further chances as Rooney made room for himself, but centre half Frankie Chappell blocked his shot and Weston curled his shot wide of the far post after good approach play from Andy Barcham.

Striker Andy Pugh, who had a loan spell with Invicta at the start of last season, then shot over from outside the penalty area in the 25 th minute after receiving the ball from Weston.

And ROONEY opened the scoring in the 26 th minute when he cut inform the right hand side and placed his shot across goal and into the far corner of the net.

Delo then saved from Pugh when the striker was played through inside the penalty area.

A 25-yard shot from Stuart Lewis flashed past the Invicta post on the half hour mark and Weston shot wide from the left hand side of the penalty area five minutes later.

Barcham showed skill inside the penalty area in the 38 th minute but was denied by Delo's outstretched hand.

And Delo kept out a Pugh header from a Nutter cross just before half time.

Gillingham changed almost their entire line up at half time, with only centre half trialist Aaron Brown playing the entire 90 minutes.

Invicta brought on goalkeeper Kieron Mann at half time and went onto introduce teenagers Sam Henson, Billy Swallow, Peter Williams and Jon Driscoll as the half went on.

The Gills struck again early in the second half when Rachid Yousseff played the ball forward to Palmer and his subsequent 47 th minute ball in from the left was touched in from close range by McCAMMON.

Denis Oli played a dangerous ball across the Invicta goal from the right hand side in the 62 nd minute.

PALMER, signed earlier in the week from Walsall, completed the scoring in the 70 th minute when he was put through by Yousseff, went round goalkeeper Mann and put the ball into an empty net for a well-taken goal.

Big defender Chris McCreedy was then just unable to convert Palmer's 76 th minute corner from the left hand side.

FOLKESTONE INVICTA : Delo (Mann 45 mins), Yianni (Henson 53 mins), Burchell, Friend, Chappell, Dickson (Swallow 53 mins), Smith, Sommerville (Williams 79 mins), Dryden, J. Everitt (Driscoll 79 mins), Jackson.

GILLINGHAM (first half) : Julian, Long, Nutter, Brown, Richards, Lewis, Maher, Weston, Pugh, Rooney, Barcham.

GILLINGHAM (second half) : Royce, Fuller, Parkes, Brown, McCreedy, Oli, Payne, Miller, Yousseff, Palmer, McCammon.

Unused subs : Cumbers, Essam.