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Although this was far from a polished
performance, Maidstone comfortably saw off Greenwich
Borough to maintain the pressure on Beckenham Town at
the top of the Kent League table.
It took just 6 minutes for The Stones to take the lead
when Sam Tydeman’s corner was headed powerfully
into the net by Jimmy Strouts. And but for some poor
finishing, The Stones would have had a significant half
time lead.
With 33 minutes played, Mario Celaire sent over an
excellent cross, which should have been headed in by
Lynden Rowland, but he put the ball into the hedge behind
the goal. And two minutes later, Rowland was guilty
of missing again. A good move saw Nathan Paul throw
the ball to Leroy Huggins who touched the ball to Mo
Takaloo. The Stones striker drove the ball across goal
towards the far post but Rowland couldn’t apply
the vital touch.
Lee Sperring replaced Rowland at the break and he almost
had an immediate impact when he created enough space
in the box for a shot only for Peter Smith to clear
the ball off the line. Then a minute later, Sperring
collected Sam Tydeman’s corner and struck the ball
across goal to where Strouts was waiting but he stepped
over the ball when it only needed to be knocked into
the net.
However, Strouts made amends on 59 minutes with a fantastic
goal that afterwards Alan Walker described as “Out
of this world.” Leroy Huggins played Pat Mullin’s
goal kick into the path of Nick Hegley. Hegley advanced
forward before sending over a good cross which was met
by the on-rushing Strouts who planted his header past
Michael Holder in the Greenwich goal.
By now, Maidstone were missing Rowland’s hard
work and presence up front but they were still creating
the occasional chance. On 62 minutes, Mo Takaloo turned
and laid the ball off to Sperring who was close to the
penalty spot and his shot only just missed the post.
Then with the game in injury time, Holder pulled off
a good save to turn a shot from Sperring round the post.
But The Stones couldn’t add to their goal tally
and with Beckenham getting a late winner away at Herne
Bay, they remain second in the league. Speaking afterwards
Alan Walker said: “Obviously I’m delighted
with the 3 points but I think it was very similar to
Wednesday evenings game in that it was a disjointed
performance. But you’ve got to take the positives
out of the game, we kept a clean sheet and all we can
do at this stage is to plough on and get 3 points all
the time.”
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