Ten-man Croydon Athletic moved up to second in Ryman Division One South last night after Jeremy Williams' goal gave them a 1-0 win over league leaders Folkestone Invicta.

The Rams started brightly and actually had the ball in the back of the net as early as the third minute when Gareth Williams was through on goal but was judged to be offside.

With both sides pretty much cancelling each other out in the early stages there was little excitement in the first half, though Croydon tried to push forwards but met a brick wall in the shape of the solid Invicta defence.

One of their best chances came when a Rory Hill corner from the right was met by Ben Lewis who knocked the ball on for Ben Godfrey to shoot just over the bar in the 21st minute.

Two further chances quickly followed with Hill again the instigator of a long range shot that was saved by Jack Delo in the Folkestone goal, and Tom Bolarinwa’s shot on the turn was saved easily by the keeper. Towards the end of the 45 minutes, Lewis unfortunately suffered an injury and had to be replaced, though it is hoped this is not a long term problem.

The second half started again with Croydon getting the ball in the net but again it was judged to be offside, this time from Chris Piper.

This was followed by a good chance for Daniel Sintim, who saw his header from a corner just go over the crossbar.

The Rams were reduced to 10 men after 64 minutes when the referee, who had a poor game, showed Bolarinwa a second yellow card after he decided the winger had dived in the box though it looked like he had been brought down.

Jeremy Williams was also booked for his protests.

With Croydon down to 10 men they rallied round, and despite the continuous whistle blowing of the referee and several substitutions being made, a perfect cross from Hill was knocked back by Gary Noel and it was Jeremy Williams who struck the ball home to give the Rams the lead in the 74th minute.

Invicta had their chances to equalise with Michael Everitt’s strike going just wide, and another long range shot from across the area near the end of the match that was saved well by Nicky Morgan in the Croydon goal.

Joe Howe at the back was a rock for Croydon Athletic and, along with Jeremy Williams, Sintim and Chris Bourne, managed to stifle any Folkestone threats. In the 85th minute it looked like Noel was through with just a player to beat but he seemed to be brought down as he attempted to run towards goal, although the referee let this one go.

At the end of the match Croydon were pleased to come away with the points with only 10 men on the pitch.

Croydon Athletic: Nicky Morgan, Joe Howe, Chris Bourne, Chris Piper, Jeremy Williams, Ben Lewis (Daniel Sintim, 32), Tom Bolarinwa, Danny Waldren, Ben Godfrey (Gary Noel, 67), Gareth Williams (Leslie Thompson, 67), Rory Hill. Subs not used: Bentley Graham, Charlie Sharman