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For the fifth time this season
The Stones smashed five goals past the opposition but
it so easily could have been a rout against a poor Hythe
Side.
Town were without Roy Godden and ex-Stone Richard Sinden
up front but they appeared to be even weaker at the
back with a defence that threatened to leak goals every
time Maidstone pushed forwards.
The only blip in The Stones performance was that they
failed to keep a clean sheet as Alan Walker commented
afterwards. He said: “ We talked to the players
before the game about having belief in themselves and
putting the so called weaker sides in this league to
the sword and I think we did that. The only disappointment
is that we conceded two sloppy goals.”
Hythe found themselves under pressure early on and
their poor defending nearly cost them in the 4th minute
when they couldn’t clear Lynden Rowland’s
ball into the box and Mo Takaloo at full stretch, put
his shot just wide.
But the visitors did have a good chance to take the
lead themselves three minutes later when they quickly
broke away following a Stones corner and Ian Hayes found
himself bearing down on Pat Mullin but he elected to
shoot early and he failed to hit the target.
At the other end, an Aaron Lacy throw was flicked on
by Ryan Royston to Takaloo who poked a gentle shot against
the post which then trickled along the goal line before
being put out and from the subsequent corner, Rowland
saw his header cleared off the line.
It seemed evitable that The Stones would score and
when the ball was pumped back into the box by Royston,
the excellent Jimmy Strouts placed a header past Nick
Day for the opening goal.
Just 6 minutes later, Maidstone added to their tally
when Mario Celaire flicked on another Lacy throw and
Takaloo rushed through a crowd of players in the box
to fire in his 15th league goal of the season.
Takaloo then saw another effort come back off the left
hand post before Strouts ensured The Stones had a comfortable
half time lead. Craig Roser played the ball into the
box and Rowland managed to head the ball into the air,
despite the presence of a Hythe defender and Strouts
reacted quickly to score with a looping header.
Things didn’t improve for Hythe after the interval
and it wasn’t long before Maidstone got a 4th goal.
Roser passed to Nick Hegley who wriggled into the box
and managed to put enough power on his shot so that
it squirmed under Day.
But some poor defending by The Stones allowed Ian Hayes
to pull a goal back on 58 minutes and Hayes was allowed
to add a second goal with 10 minutes remaining following
a Hythe corner.
However, just before Hayes scored for the second time,
The Stones added a 5th goal following a good move which
initially involved Royston and Celaire. Nick Hegley
and Craig Roser then exchanged passes and from Hegley’s
cross, Austin diverted the ball past Day with a powerful
header.
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