Boss Jay Saunders’ decision to freshen-up Folkestone’s squad reaped rewards in their derby victory at Chatham on Bank Holiday Monday.

Unbeaten Invicta moved into the Isthmian Premier play-off spots in the early stages of this campaign - leapfrogging Chats in the process - as they beat Kevin Hake’s men 2-1 to finish Chatham’s unbeaten start.

While Saunders made four switches for Folkestone’s second game in three days, bringing in Ade Yusuff and Jake Hutchinson up front, while defender Ben Mason also came in and the vastly-experienced Dean Rance replaced the injured Mikey Berry in midfield, the Medway outfit were unchanged from their 2-0 weekend win at Aveley.

“I looked at our squad from last year and I just didn’t think there was depth to it,” said Saunders, whose troops played their first ‘home’ fixture this term as they were 2-1 victors over St Albans at Margate on Saturday. “So, it was something we wanted to look at.

“To be able to leave out Stroutsy (Josh Strouts) and Kweku (Lucan), and put in Ade and Jake, who were fresh, and I felt they looked fresh.

“Obviously, they made no changes. I kind of had a feeling they wouldn’t so we thought ‘Right, let’s freshen it up.’.

“You lose Mikey Berry, who has been excellent in the last two games, and bring Dean Rance in. It shows the strength, with Ben Mason at right-back instead of Brad Walledge.

“They’re all positives.”

Berry, 19, wasn’t involved at Chatham, having come through 90 minutes against St Albans.

Saunders revealed: “It’s a groin injury.

“I think it’s more fatigue. He’s gone from not starting the season to two games back-to-back, which I think sort of caught-up with him. It’s one of those.

“Hopefully, he’ll be fine this weekend.”

Yusuff claimed a goal and an assist as Folkestone won at Chatham, a ground Saunders described as one of the toughest to travel to in the division, setting up captain Kevin Lokko, before 31-year-old Yusuff himself got the game’s all-important third goal.

“I was pleased with the performance,” said Saunders.

“This is one of the hardest places to come in the league. Chatham have had a few years of success now and, as you can see, they’ve got a good side.

“We knew it would probably be our toughest test this season so far so, overall, I’m really delighted.

“I thought we started the game well - and then we gave away a silly goal. The reaction after that was really good.

“Once we got into the lead, I thought we managed the game really well and limited them to (few) chances and - on the flip-side - we, maybe, could have nicked one or two. But I’m really pleased.

“It’s a good three points.”

The away team had been forced to come from behind in front of a crowd of 1,808, which included a healthy contingent of visiting fans, as forward Tope Fadahunsi lobbed Ted Collins after Invicta’s keeper had found himself in no man’s land.

“It's a mistake by us at the back and a bit of confusion,” said Saunders, whose team are unable to play at Cheriton Road as work to install a new 3G pitch continues.

“We’re playing every game away from home at the moment! I know people will say ‘You had a home game on Saturday’ but, realistically, we were playing at Margate.

“That’s a two-hour drive for some of the boys. To show the character we have, to be unbeaten, that’s excellent for us.

“I’ll be honest with you, before the game on Saturday, I actually said to the boys I wanted six points from this Bank Holiday weekend.

“I felt we were capable of it but you still have to go and do that. The squad played its part.

“We made a few changes and I’m really delighted.”

Folkestone will play Isthmian South East side Sevenoaks in the FA Cup first qualifying round at Ashford's Homelands Stadium on Saturday.