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Maidstone United finished 2005 in emphatic style with
a resounding victory over Lordswood. It has been a terrific
season so far for The Stones who are still unbeaten
with 14 league games played.
 And
despite the snowy and difficult conditions, this was
another accomplished display from United which once
again left Alan Walker delighted. He said: "There
were a lot of fantastic performances throughout the
team and I don't think anyone had a poor game "
It didn't take long for The Stones to register their
first goal. With just 9 minutes played, Aaron Lacy's
throw was missed by Ryan Royston but Nathan Paul managed
to head the ball to Mo Takaloo who had his back to goal.
Takaloo seems relish receiving the ball in such positions
and he quickly turned and volleyed his shot past Gary
Hopper.
Lordswood are a much improved side this season yet
they were struggling to contain Maidstone at times.
A quick break with 13 minutes gone ended with Nick Hegley
shooting wide and then Takaloo went close again after
an Ashley Russell mistake.
Alan Backshell then made a vital goal line clearance
from an excellent Simon Austin free-kick before Gary
Hopper kept Lordswood in the game with a succession
of good saves. First, he was called into action to block
Takaloo's volley from Ryan Roystons' flick on and then
he pulled off a one handed save to deny Austin.
The start of the second half was a much tighter affair
as Lordswood pushed forward in search of an equaliser.
And one was nearly forth coming with 63 minutes on the
clock. Pat Mullin rushed from his goal to try and clear
the ball but he made a hash of his kick which gave Backshell
the apparently simple task of lobbing the ball into
the net. But his shot didn't quite have enough momentum
and Mullin raced back to goal and superbly scooped the
ball off the line and over the bar.
This was an important turning point in the game as
from the resultant corner Mullin quickly punted the
ball  up
field to Takaloo who had time to bring the ball down
before firing it past Hopper.
And within seconds, Maidstone had put the game beyond
Lordswood. Nick Hegley burst forward and pulled the
ball back to the unmarked Takaloo (right), who was never
going to miss from such a central position, and his
shot went in off the post.
Although the win was guaranteed by now, Maidstone kept
pouring forward in search of another goal and they were
rewarded when another quick break out of defence yielded
Takaloo's 4th of the afternoon. Sam Tydeman's superb
ball located Hegley on the wing and he quickly played
it onto Takaloo who was full of confidence by now and
needed no help in burying the ball in the back of the
net.
The with the snow pouring out the sky and just 4 minutes
remaining, the hardworking Austin saw his long shot
parried and Paul was on hand to tuck away the rebound
to round off a great second half of the year for The
Stones.
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