Monday 9th April 2012 // Ryman League One // Attendance: 174 // Report by Ruth Tunnell
A solitary strike from Baff Addae means that with just three games remaining of the Ryman One South season, Maidstone United’s play off hopes are still alive as they won on the road for the second game in a row.
Despite looking nervous at times, The Stones were the better of the two sides and John Whitehouse in the Maidstone goal was rarely troubled as Graeme Andrews in particular made sure that the home side were well contained.
With a strong swirling wind blowing drizzle around, this game was never going to be a classic and chances were few and far between in the first half. It was Corinthian-Casuals who had the initial chance on goal with five minutes played when Dave Hodges was released down the left hand side and with Tommy Osborne in attendance, Hodges shot over the bar.
Then with 24 minutes played, Maidstone took the lead when Sam Bewick delivered the ball into the box and Adam Peck in the Corinthian goal came to claim the cross but lost his footing enabling Addae to smash the ball into an unguarded net.
Shortly afterwards, Matt Ellis let fly from distance and his effort curled wide of the left hand post and then from even further out, Tom Mills went even closer with a drive from 40 yards that just flew over the bar.
Four minutes before the break, the home side were nearly made to pay when they let the ball bounce in their own half allowing Addae to gain possession on the right and his shot was heading into the net until Peck intervened with a fine save.
Then just after the interval, Maidstone should have doubled their lead when Ben Davisson put Shaun Welford in down the left and Welford accelerated before pulling the ball back to the Karl Murray who was in an excellent position inside the area and with the goal at his mercy he failed to take the opportunity and the ball went wide.
This miss nearly proved costly as with 55 minutes played, a sloppy free-kick from Mills went straight to Glen Boosey who tried to take advantage of the windy conditions and he hit a shot goalwards from just inside the Maidstone half which nearly caught Whitehouse unaware but The Stones keeper managed to scramble the ball wide.
It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that there was another attempt on goal when Daniel Green curled a free-kick from just outside the area into the box and Whitehouse had to be alert to punch the ball clear and then seconds later, substitute Alex Flisher battled hard to gain possession just outside the box but his resultant weak shot failed to trouble Peck.
With six minutes remaining, The Stones should have scored again when Davisson found Flisher who dug out a cross and despite being unmarked, Shaun Welford could only head the ball straight at Peck. Then with the game in stoppage time, Welford had another opportunity to make the last few moments more comfortable for The Stones and although he couldn’t take it, in the end Maidstone held out to register an important victory.
Corinthian-Casuals: -
Maidstone United: Baff Addae 24
Corinthian-Casuals: Adam Peck, Scott Hassell, Matt Ellis (Jamel Carr 45), Joe Hicks, Wayne Finnie, Daniel Green, Scott Corbett, Dave Hodges, Gavin Quintayne (Tom Williams 80), Joel Thompson, Glen Boosey (Francois Gabbidon 74). Sub not used: Joe Davis.
Maidstone United: John Whitehouse, Tommy Osborne (Ellis Green 73), Tom Mills, Sam Groombridge, Graeme Andrews, Danny Lye, Ben Davisson (Alex Waugh 90), Sam Bewick, Shaun Welford, Baff Addae (Alex Flisher 73), Karl Murray. Subs not used: Sam Hasler, Steve Northwood.
