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Lyndon Rowland and Sam Tydeman
may not have been the most popular Stones players last
season but they soon will be if their performances against
Deal Town are anything to go by - they were both superb
as the Stones demolished Town in style.
And manager Lloyd Hume was understandably delighted
with Tydeman’s performance saying: “I hate
praising Sam Tydeman, and everyone is aware of that
but I thought he was outstanding and his goal just capped
a brilliant performance.”
It was Tydeman who dragged the Stones back into the
game after they had gone 1-0 down against the run of
play when experienced Kent League marksman Marc Pollard
tore past Ryan Royston before sweeping the ball low
into the box for John Utterson to smash past Pat Mullin.
But any fears that the Stones faithful had that this
was about to turn into another nightmare trip to the
seaside were soon dissipated by surely one the best
Maidstone goals in recent seasons. New signings Mario
Celaire and Nathan Paul have a great understanding from
their years playing together with Beckenham and they
used this to good effect with 23 minutes gone to play
the ball amongst themselves and create some space out
on the right hand side. Paul then fed Nick Hegley and
he deftly slipped the ball into box for Jimmy Strouts
to curl a tremendous shot past Robert Lindley.
The equaliser seemed to relax the Stones players and
they began to play with conviction and belief, peppering
the Deal box with crosses and shots. And it was from
one of Gary Kimble’s many excellent balls into
the box that Strouts got Maidstone’s second with
a looping header.
If there was one criticism of the Stones performance
it would be that on a few occasions they were nearly
caught out at the back as their defence poured forward
to support the relentless waves of attacks. But even
when Deal managed to get into the Stones box, they couldn’t
find the net as first Matt Nicholl cleared the ball
off the line from Pollard and then Pat Mullin pushed
David Bathgate’s free-kick past the post.
And in between, the Stones increased their lead when
Tydeman’s ball into the box allowed Rowland to
spin and shoot low into the far corner.
By now, Maidstone had a complete stranglehold on the
game and looked capable of scoring with pretty much
every attack. And in the 58th minute, Rowland grabbed
his second goal when Mo Takaloo put him clear and he
rounded Lindley before finishing from a tight angle.
It was Rowland’s turn to be provider just minutes
later he squared the ball to Tydeman who took the ball
to the edge of the area before planting a delicate chip
over the advancing Lindley to finally register his first
Stones goal.
Not content with five goals, the Stones pushed hard
for a sixth but Takaloo forced Lindley into a good save,
substitute Simon Austin saw his chip cleared off the
line by Leon Ingram and Strouts shot wide when presented
with the opportunity to complete his hat-trick.
So in contrast to last year’s depressing trip
to Deal, the Stones faithful were left delighted by
one of United’s best performances in recent seasons
and they will be hoping for more of the same when Maidstone
host last years runners-up Herne Bay in midweek.
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