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Another late, late goal for The
Stones gave them an important victory against Erith
and Belverdere and sent them to the top of the Kent
League table with half the season played.
 This
was a game that Maidstone totally dominated from start
to finish as the players responded to the disappointing
defeat against Lordswood in the best possible manner
with a high tempo performance.
And it was this positive approach from The Stones which
left Alan Walker pleased, he said: “ I’m delighted
with the three points. It would have been a travesty
if we hadn’t of come away with the three points
as we totally dominated and created lots of chances.”
Right from the first whistle, The Stones pinned the
home side back at every opportunity and with 10 minutes
played, Mo Takaloo saw a header fly straight to Ricky
Hall after a good Maidstone move involving the excellent
Nathan Paul and Aaron Lacy.
Lynden Rowland also had a header held before Hall was
forced to make a smart save from Mo Takaloo’s shot
and then Mario Celaire’s header was cleared off
the line as The Stones tried to make their dominance
count.
The second half initially continued in a similar manner
and Celaire’s long ball on 49 minutes picked out
Nick Hegley who sprinted into the box and struck a fierce
drive goalwards that Hall managed to palm clear.
Then just six minutes later, The Stones were denied
what appeared to be a blatant penalty when Takaloo was
hacked down in the box by Chris Hirst when it seemed
certain that the Stones striker would at least get the
chance to test Hall in The Deres’ goal.
With the game approaching the hour mark Erith and Belverdere
finally managed to escape their half for long enough
to come close to opening the scoring. Ryan Royston and
Chris Dickson both jumped for the ball close to the
penalty area but Royston lost sight of it and when the
ball dropped down, Dickson lashed his shot against the
base of the post.
 The
Deres then blew another good chance when they quickly
broke out of defence and Dickson found himself bearing
down on Pat Mullin. Dickson breezed past the chasing
Paul but fortunately for The Stones he couldn’t
finish and put his shot wide.
By now it seemed as if United were going to drop points
for the second game in succession but luckily Nick Hegley
had other ideas. With the game 5 minutes into stoppage
time, Pat Mullin’s long kick located Craig Roser.
Roser’s ball into the box originally seemed far
from ideal but it looped up into the air off a Deres
defender and with a number of Stones players in the
box the chance fell to Rowland. His shot agonisingly
struck a defender on the line and hit the post but it
squirmed out to Hegley who seemed to take an age to
smack the ball into the back of the net.
A huge adrenalin fuelled feeling of relief swept Park
View Road as the numerous Stones fans celebrated wildly.
This could prove to be crucial victory for Maidstone
when the title is presented in April.
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