Folkestone midfielder Darren Smith caught up with the Official Club website this week following Invicta's 3-2 victory over Walton Casuals at the weekend which sent his side back to the top of Ryman Division One.

“I think we're doing a lot better than a lot of people thought we would, especially after the trouble in the summer although now we've played ten games we're quite happy and it's a case of kicking on now. Last season we finished strongly and it's basically the same group of players and we gelled over 25 odd games last season and I think now we're seeing the benefits of that.”

Manager Neil Cugley has stated his ambition is to get his promising young side into the play offs come the end of the season and only one defeat in ten matches has set the standard for the Seasiders.

“We've played teams who were up there like Godalming who I thought we were better than and Merstham who caused us problems but we came away from there with something. I was speaking to Cugs earlier and Merstham beat Hastings 6-1 which shows what a result it was for us. We've seen some of the teams that are up and around there and I don't think we've got a lot to be scared of.

“The next five or ten games will give us a pointer of where we're going to be come the end of the season and they include sides like Worthing, Leatherhead, Croydon who have got a lot of money and Burgess Hill who are starting to pick up. If we can come out of that with 35, 40 points and if you pick up 20 points every ten games then you'll be there or thereabouts come the end of the season especially if we can keep clear of injuries.

“I think we have to be careful though as we don't want to look too far ahead as that's when you can lose focus and I've seen it before at other clubs. Games like Whyteleafe away at the weekend will be the making of our young side and should give a pointer of where we're going to end up.

“The biggest key to reaching the play offs is consistency and obviously the boys had that at the start of last season and in the interim period they lost that which was to be expected with the number of players that left. This season we're more settled and have only lost one in ten and it's about maintaining that form and level of performance. We haven't been totally outplayed in any game although other than Horsham and maybe Eastbourne, we've never totally dominated either and if we can kill a couple of teams off early for a change I think we'll start to relax more and play our football”.

Commercial Manager for a housing developer based in Bromley, Smithy made his return to the Buzzlines Stadium midway through last season in that “interim period” after a player exodus when the Seasiders ran into financial difficulties.

“I've known Cugs for a while and I've played at the Club before. I knew he was interested at one point and to be honest I always wanted to come back. At the start of last season Scott Lindsey had been talking to me and so I had been half interested for a little while and I know Jacko from our days at Gravesend and Micheal Everitt and Jimmy Dryden I knew. I wanted to enjoy my football and that's why I came down.

“Fortunately when I came in were playing better sides like Fleet and Worthing and I thought I did quite well in those games and so I settled in fairly quickly. The three of us in midfield at the moment – Jacko, Mev and myself – are probably three of the more experienced players in the League and it's quite a strong unit and nine times out of ten we're available. The other week when Jacko was sawing through his foot was the first time I think one of us has missed a couple of games and out of the three of us Mev will the more likely to get suspended!”

The midfielder hit a hat trick earlier in the season in the 3-0 victory over Horsham and conceded “I've managed to get a decent chance in every game since but frustratingly haven't been able to stick one away again!”

Whilst Invicta sit proudly at the top of the table and boast the best defensive record in the League, it has been the ability of the side to put goals away at the other end of the field that has proved the biggest frustration for manager, players and fans alike.

“It's difficult to put my finger on why but in the summer Jim (Dryden) was out which didn't help his fitness and there is a reliance I think on him as a 20, 30 goal a season striker that he's always been. I think Cugs had in mind a certain pairing up front with someone in behind but then with injuries, he had to try five or six different combinations and don't forget we've only played ten games. The rest of the side is reasonably settled and you can see that in the defence for instance which doesn't concede many.

“We need to get two forwards settled in together and Jim to get fit. To be fair to Jim he has been suffering and putting himself on the line and I think sometimes people don't quite realise that. It's unfortunate but that's non league football where as a big player at a club, people want to see you play and they know you've got more chance of scoring than some. At the minute that's part of the problem as we haven't got him firing on all cylinders and as a result whoever plays alongside him is trying to compensate but then when Jim doesn't play we don't look the same side either so it's hard.

“I think Simon Austin has come in and made a big difference; his touch is brilliant, he lets us in midfield play off him and I think we've looked alright with him in the side and I'm confident we'll start to score a few now. Him and Jim obviously need to develop an understanding. Before Saturday I don't think Walton had let in too many goals and we put three past them and perhaps could've scored a couple more.”

In a relatively young dressing room, Smithy is one of the more experienced heads alongside the likes of Jimmy Jackson and Michael Everitt.

“People in and around the Club often lose sight of how young a side we are and that's not a criticism of people but when you look at the side the likes of Jack Delo who are early twenties and JV has probably only played twenty or thirty games at this level now but has done really well and scored a few. If we look beyond the likes of Jacko, Mev and myself, people might look at Friendy as the next experienced player and he's only 21.

“We've just come off the back of a few bad results like Sittingbourne and Hitchin and if people get on their backs it's easy for young lads to go in their shell. Over the last couple of games the team spirit has shone through where we've bounced back against Merstham and bounced back on Saturday scoring three and it shows the character of the side.

“Cugs knows what he's doing and as the more experienced players he leans on us a bit sometimes to see what the players are thinking and how we're feeling. He doesn't rule the roost and he bounces off people although ultimately he's his own man and makes his own decisions. Then alongside him obviously Micky Dix who is like every number two so he's a bit on the players side but he has got their respect like they both have. Micky Dix has seen a lot of these lads grow up anyway which helps and you couldn't get a better pairing.”

Defeats against Sittingbourne in the E.On sponsored F.A Cup and in the F.A Carlsberg Trophy are the only real disappointments of Folkestone's season so far with the former arguably the more important of the two games for the prize money available.

“We know when our standards have dropped and Cugs is the first to let us know and he did that in no uncertain terms after those two games. But he's got that respect from the boys because he doesn't just do it because he can and so when he does dish it out to a player they take it. No one likes being on the receiving end and you have to accept it and no one likes having a bad game.

“To be fair after the Godalming game when we lost, he came in and said we didn't do much wrong. We controlled most of the game and had a few chances and then they had the free kick and wrong footed Jack. You don't mind it so much when you play well and people can see that but it's the games like Sittingbourne and Hitchin where we did nothing to lift the crowd and it's a horrible feeling.

“We all want to try and play football but sometimes it doesn't work and you can't play like that every game. Different teams play different formations and like at Merstham the other week, they had two really quick wide boys and it made it that bit more difficult for us and the wingbacks have that bit more of a job, one against one all the time.”

And on his own performance so far this season?

“I'm reasonably pleased although I wasn't happy with how I played against Dulwich first game. But I was happier against Eastbourne and at Burgess Hill I made the winner and then a few of the boys said ‘you get a bit of stick' and then after I'd scored three Cugs is in the programme saying I sometimes get a bit of unfair criticism but you just grin and bare it – I'm my own biggest critic anyway. The only two games I'm really disappointed in are the two everyone in the side is disappointed with; Sittingbourne where I felt I didn't do enough and Hitchin where we didn't play enough football but they were a very good side I thought.

“In terms of goal scoring, I'm being played in a position now where I scored thirty odd goals over two seasons at Chatham. We're a better side though and we should be creating more chances and me personally, I should be getting more goals and that's what I want to show”.