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A woeful performance from Maidstone
United saw them blow their chance to extend their league
at the top of the table as they could only draw with
second to bottom Erith Town.
The Stones never got going in this fixture despite
taking an early lead and the performance left Lloyd
Hume feeling disappointed. He said: “I’m not
going to make any excuses as we were very, very poor
today. I can’t think of anyone who particularly
played well and seven or eight people played absolutely
terribly. It’s the probably the poorest we’ve
played all season.”
When Mo Takaloo put Maidstone in front with just three
minutes played, stabbing home a loose ball in the box
following an Aaron Lacy throw, it seemed as if it might
be a question of how many goals United might get. However,
it quickly became apparent that The Stones fans were
not about to be treated to another goal-fest.
First Takaloo air kicked at the ball when well placed
and then Jimmy Strouts headed wide from a difficult
angle following a deep free kick from Lacy. Then at
the other end, with only their second attack of the
game, Erith won a penalty. Paul Springett threw the
ball to Rob Browning who showed good skill to turn and
run into the penalty area where he was fouled by Mario
Celaire. Springett made no mistake with the subsequent
penalty and sent Pat Mullin the wrong way.
Having looked extremely lacklustre for the majority
of the game, The Stones suddenly upped the tempo with
ten minutes to go before the break. Scott Lindsey played
the ball into the box which was headed down by Lynden
Rowland and Takaloo lashed his shot goalwards only for
the ball to be cleared off the line.
Lindsey was then guilty of a bad miss when a rare mistake
from Chris Conneally in the Erith goal saw him fail
to catch Craig Roser’s cross and when the ball
dropped down, Lindsey sent the chance well over the
bar.
Conneally then kept the home side in the game with
a good save three minutes into stoppage time at the
end of the first half when he saved a fierce shot from
Takaloo with his legs.
The second half failed to bring about an improvement
in The Stones’ performance and Erith enjoyed a
lot of possession after the interval. But with 48 minutes
played, United came close to edging in front when Takaloo
instinctively turned and shot from just outside the
area and the ball struck the base of the post and spun
away to safety.
Then with 59 minutes played, Nathan Paul was booked
from bringing down Rob Browning about 30 yards from
goal. Browning struck the resultant free-kick well and
Mullin pushed his effort over the bar.
Mullin rescued Maidstone again with 3 minutes remaining
when he had to claw Sean Conney’s header off the
line and then it was Conneally’s turn to shine
in goal at the other end. Desperate for the three points,
The Stones pushed Mario Celaire forward and with the
game entering stoppage time he turned and drilled a
low shot towards the far post which Conneally pushed
wide. Then seconds later, Conneally denied Celaire what
looked a certain winner when he acrobatically tipped
the ball over the bar from Celaire’s close range
effort.
The Stones now travel to VCD Athletic on Tuesday night
knowing that a vast improvement in their performance
is needed if they are to collect the all important three
points.
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