Folkestone Invicta boss Jay Saunders reacts to 1-1 National League South draw against Horsham in midweek

Manager Jay Saunders felt Folkestone ran out of steam in the second half of the home National League South draw against Horsham on Tuesday night.

Invicta broke the deadlock through forward Aaron Cosgrave’s second goal of the season but were pegged back after the restart.

Indeed, it was the depleted Hornets, who made two first-half changes and also switched goalkeepers at half-time, that looked the more likely to win it by the end as it finished 1-1 at Cheriton Road - just a second draw for the West Sussex side in the past 13 meetings at the ground.

Saunders felt the final result was a fair one.

Saunders, whose side came into the contest after last weekend’s 3-2 defeat at Torquay United, reflected: “We started quite well.

“Obviously, we went 1-0 up and then I thought we looked tired after that. It was a long trip to Torquay at the weekend.

“I thought that took a lot out of us - we put a lot into the second half - and we looked like we had run out of steam in the second half, and Horsham grew into the game, so I thought a draw was a fair result tonight.

“As much as they sort of had good possession in the second half, Ted [Collins, Invicta’s No.1] didn’t have a lot to do, other than pick the ball out of his net. The first half, I felt we had really good spells but did we work their keeper enough?

“Maybe not.”

Horsham took off defender Lee Harding and attacker Reece Meekums in the opening 45 minutes while No.1 Sam Howes, who had collided with Harding, also didn’t come back out for the second period. Howes was replaced by teenage debutant Will Heater, who spent six months on loan at Isthmian South East side Sheppey United last term.

But Saunders denied that had an impact on his charges.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “Like I say, I think we just ran out of steam.

“You could see that Donell Thomas was cramping up.

“We put a heck of a lot into the game against Torquay on Saturday. We did all the travelling up and put a heck of a lot into the game, especially in the second half when we were 2-0 down. Tonight, we just ran out of steam.

“The likes of Aaron Cosgrave, we took him off and Donell had to come off. From that point of view, it had an impact on the game.

“But not so much the keeper changing and things like that - that happens in games - and, ultimately, we’re both part-time teams. We had a long old trip to Torquay and it takes a lot out of you, and some of the boys aren’t used to that.

“Tonight was probably the last thing we needed.”

While Invicta picked up just one point against Torquay and Horsham, they competed well in both matches and know they weren’t far from a much better points return.

“This league is all about fine margins,” said Saunders, whose sixth-placed side will play fellow newly-promoted club Farnham at home this Saturday. “We actually have just said that in the changing room.

“That’s the difference in this league. When you get your opportunities, you have got to take them.

“Also, you can get punished if you switch-off for a moment. If you look at their goal, we’re actually in possession of the ball. We go long when we didn’t need to, they turn it over, break on us and, fair play, they take their goal well. But it’s fine margins.

“I look at some of the draws and think that we could be sitting here with a few more points but, if you look at the league as a whole, it’s very tight. There’s a lot of low-scoring games.

“We will just keep going and keep trying to improve.”