Prime were handed a boost an hour before kick off when Jarek Siekanka made himself available. It was lucky that he did with Buckland and Abrahams stuck in traffic. Prime started with an experimental 3-5-2 formation. A back three made up of Cary, Goldsmith and Barnham was hardly blessed with pace however they dominated the burley centre forward of Invicta and reduced the hosts to just shots from outside the area.

Returning captain Abu, Taylor and Excell were the midfield three who broke up the play through the middle and were spreading the ball wide to Sykes and Henshall in the wing back roles. The numbers battled throughout the first half with the referee giving some strange decisions which resulted him being on the end of a few verbal volleys from the boys in navy.

The first half was largely uneventful with both teams nervy in the cup competition and Prime keen to extend their winning run to 3. There were chances for Sykes, Henshall and Siekanka but their first touch evaded them and the Invicta defence cleared.

Prime were boosted at half time with oranges and spoke about spreading the ball wide to Sykes and Henshall on the wing to put pressure on the Invicta full backs.

This paid off quickly in the second half with a flurry of corners won and Excell floated the ball deep into the 6 yard box over the keeper and Siekanka was there to score his second goal for the club.

The second goal came quickly after with Henshall running 40 yards screaming for support and when it arrived a neat exchange between Abu and Henshall allowed Sykes to whip a cross which Siekanka prodded home to make it 2-0. Invicta were deflated after 2 goals in 3 minutes and Prime were keen to ensure they kept their clean sheet intact.

Much to the dismay of his fellow centre halves the effective and hard-working Barnham was taken off for Buckland by manager Sykes who switched to a 4-4-2 formation to get more men behind the ball. Fortunately the battling Ferguson used his frame to create a chance and in the melee the Invicta goalkeeper came off worse which allowed Sykes to organise the players into the more rigid 4-4-2 formation.

With Invicta pushing for a goal to get them back into the game Prime were getting plenty of opportunities, first it was Taylor with a toe poke, then Abu who blazed wide with a left foot shank but Taylor made up for it minutes later when he was allowed time and space outside the box to pick his spot and smash it home from 20 yards for his first competitive goal for the club. Siekanka was at the centre of the creativity up front and despite his reservations about playing 90 minutes was excellent throughout causing the Invicta defence trouble all game.

Despite goalkeeper Overy having a good game between the sticks for 89 minutes he had a ‘Kerton moment’ in the final minute of the game when an Invicta player took a shot from 35 yards which bounced in front of him and went straight through his hands above head height handing Invicta a consolation. A moment to forget for the keeper who has been excellent since his return to the numbers.