TWO first-half goals from Folkestone Invicta were enough to seal a 2-1 victory over Billericay Town, putting a dent in Town's hopes for promotion.

Following an end-to-end start to proceedings, Billericay had the first opportunity of the afternoon as Matt Johnson threaded a perfect ball through to Ollie Peters who couldn’t apply the finish to match as his shot produced an excellent save from Joe Coleman.

Folkestone, heading into this one with only one win in six league outings, took first blood on the half-hour mark from the spot.

David Smith was fouled by Dan Wilks in the box and the ex-Bromley forward slotted into the corner from the resulting penalty to give Andy Drury’s side a surprise advantage.

They weren’t content though to sit on their one-goal cushion and the lead was doubled when Ryan Henshaw’s clearance was a gift for Kane Penn who made no mistake with a fine finish.

Smith failed to increase the Seasiders’ advantage just before the break as goalscorer Smith directed his shot onto the post as the visitors looked certain to head back to Kent with three points.

Billericay had plenty of the ball in the second half but didn’t do much with it, despite a double change by Gary McCann at half-time.

In additional time, they halved the deficit courtesy of Frankie Merrifield’s driven strike but they left it too late as they lost ground on their fellow promotion hopefuls.

Billericay manager McCann was frustrated with his side’s display, noting it as ‘the worst first half performance of the season.’ “There was a little bit of fear factor in my team selection if I’m honest,” he admitted.

“There have been a lot of intense minutes played in the last few weeks and I was considering making some changes but I left the side how it was.

“I certainly didn’t expect it coming but there was a bit of fear that it could present itself because of a bit of tiredness.

“The first half we put together today was one of the worst first halves we have performed in for most of the season.

“We didn’t have enough about us to recover the game which disappointed me.”

It’s back to the drawing board for Billericay who make the trip to Lewes on Tuesday night, a side they defeated 5-0 only a few weeks ago.

Town remain third in the Isthmian Premier Division.