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It’s not often that matches
kick off at 3:24pm on Saturday afternoons but due to
Cowes Sports getting hopelessly lost en route to Sittingbourne,
this is what happened in this FA Vase tie.
The disruption caused by this game
delay affected various parties in different ways. The
supporters were able to sup an extra pint or two in
the bar, the home team were thrown out of their routine
with regards to their pre-match warm up and the visitors
arrived in a state of panic but with the adrenalin most
certainly pumping.
Two seasons ago, these two sides met in an FA Cup tie
with The Stones romping home by 4-0 but today was completely
different. With just 10 minutes of play gone The Yachtsmen
snatched the lead. A poorly placed pass from Adam Hewitson
went straight to Cowes’ impressive captain Adam
Barsdale. He in turn found striker Shaun Taylor and
he buried the ball past Dave Wietecha in the home goal.
Maidstone struggled to find any form of rhythm in the
first half and started resorting to long hopeful balls
into opposition territory. Sam Tydeman was trying his
hardest to orchestrate the midfield and the non stop
running of Lyndon Rowland up front appeared to be in
vain as The Stones simply lumbered from one failed period
of possession to another. Pretty football it was not.
The visitors sensed an opportunity to push forward
and indeed showed far more ambition than last week’s
FA Cup visitors Burnham. A long clearance from Cowes’
defensive third by Mitch Day found Dan Laizans bearing
down on goal. His man-marker Matt Nicholl misjudged
the flight of the ball initially and as it appeared
that Laizans was clear on goal, Nicholl redeemed himself
with a late challenge to stop the attacker in his tracks.
Minutes later, Cowes had an even better opportunity
to increase their lead when a free kick was driven low
across The Stones’ goal. Not one player on either
side reacted to the delivery and the home supports were
able to breath a sigh of relief as the chance went begging.
The frustration on the pitch continued to mount and
Simon Austin was cautioned for a rash challenge on Barsdale.
With half time approaching, Ryan Royston fed a neat
pass to the feet of Rowland wide on the right. The hard
working striker’s cross shot was fumbled by keeper
Gary Streeter at the near post but the ball was hacked
away from the goal line.
With just 4 minutes remaining until the break, Maidstone
finally equalised. Simon Austin sent a deep cross into
the penalty area which eluded the Cowes central defenders.
Rowland was afforded time to chest the ball down and
he drilled an accurate left footed drive into the corner
of Streeter’s goal for the leveller.
Unsurprisingly, a half time dressing room roasting
roused The Stones from their slumbers and they immediately
showed more attacking purpose in the second half. Hewitson
fired a shot from 15 yards which struck a Cowes defender
on the arm. Referee Mr Lugg immediately pointed to the
penalty spot and Mo Takaloo confidently hit the ball
home, sending Streeter the wrong way.
With the home side relaxing slightly, the visitors
got an unexpected equaliser on the hour mark. A free
kick on the left was sent deep into The Stones’
penalty area and full back Charlie Smeeton was left
completely unmarked on the penalty spot to tuck the
ball past Wietecha who had absolutely no chance. The
marking at this set piece was woeful and the Bourne
Park crowd were stunned into silence.
Seven minutes later Cowes again surged forward and
Laizans was denied by a brave save from Wietecha. Spurred
into action by this threat, Maidstone then regained
the lead just one minute later with a goal scored following
the best piece of football in the whole game. Rowland
made a diagonal pass from the edge of the penalty area
to Austin. His run to the right of the area stretched
the Cowes defence and an intelligent cut back by Austin
found Takaloo unmarked on the goal line for the simplest
of tap-ins. A goal of simplicity made with crisp, along
the floor passing, was a joy to see in a game full of
hoof and thump.
Although in control of the game at this point, The
Stones had to be on their guard as The Yachtsmen continued
to seek out another equaliser. With quarter of an hour
to go, Barsdale dispossessed Bradley Sandeman with a
strong tackle and then hit a 20 yard shot narrowly over
Wietecha’s crossbar. That was to be Cowes’
last meaningful effort on goal and it was left to Lee
Sperring an 87th minute substitute to settle matters
once and for all. It was Rowland again who supplied
the short pass to Sperring’s feet. With a quick
touch inside his marker Sperring then unleashed a low
drive from the edge of the penalty area and into the
bottom corner of the net to seal an away tie for Maidstone
at Eastbourne Town in the next round.
After the game, manager Lloyd Hume said “It was
not a pretty win but it was a win nonetheless. In cup
game’s all that you have to do is win games and
you’ll progress and that’s what we’ve
done today.”
“There were a couple of good performances today
but it was just a couple, a couple of average ones and
a lot of poor ones but we got away with a win, so I’ll
take that as a positive.”
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