Domination is aim of game for Hastings United

The Us bossed the festive fixture and gave their travelling fans the perfect late Christmas present with an emphatic victory headlined by a Davide Rodari hat-trick.

It means they can continue a testing festive schedule – in which they have been handed three away games in seven days – without any fear of having to hit the road again.

They are due to go to Concord Rangers tomorrow (Sat Dec 30) – though there are worries the Concord pitch may not be playable after this week’s rain – and Cray Wanderers on Monday.

And they begin a busy New Year weekend in the play-off places, with the win over Invicta having put them in fifth spot.

Agutter said they fully deserved the big margin of victory, secured when Kian Moynes and Tommie Fagg added to Rodari’s treble.

For his part, Rodari is in great form and has scored 17 this season.

Agutter told us: “It was the best we’ve played since I returned. We’d been having good moments in games, then good spells, but now we’re dominating games, or long periods of them.

"There was a big moment at 1-0 when they missed a chance because of a great bit of defending by John Ufuah, then Charlie Grainger made a good save at 2-0. But we were full value for it.

"In the second half Folkestone changed to two up front and took one out of midfield, and we’d already been running through them, so we knew we had the game in the bag at that point.

"We had three other one-on-ones we didn’t take and were just dominant. I was very happy with the result and it was great for the fans, who were amazing again and travelled in great numbers.”

Agutter said United’s away form meant they could go to Concord and then Cray with their tails up – but without any complacency.

"Performances are improving,” he added. “A month ago we were winning games but performances were bang average. But we’re not massively focused on the league table. We’re always looking longer-term.”