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The Stones gained three more points
in their quest to win the Kent League title at Slade
Green’s Small Glen ground today in a game that
had plenty of controversy. An at best inconsistent performance
from referee Dan Wyatt played a major role in how this
competitive fixture panned out.
The first half saw Maidstone have the majority of possession
as The Railwaymen seemed content to let the visitors
press on and then counter attack when possible. The
experienced Tony Gallagher made an early mistake in
the home defence which allowed Lynden Rowland to have
an early shot on goal, however, his firm strike was
well parried by former Whitstable goalkeeper Gary Arterton.
Green could easily have opened the scoring in the 17th
minute when an error from Mario Celaire allowed Tony
Weir to bear down on goal. Weir’s shot from 18
yards was tipped wide by the outstretched hand of Pat
Mullin.
The first of Mr Wyatt’s controversial decisions
came just a few minutes later, when Maidstone had a
very strong claim for a penalty rejected. Rowland climbed
to head a deep cross from Nathan Paul only to have Scott
Lewis throw his arm across his face. With appeals from
players and supporters alike, the referee waved the
protests aside.
However, within two minutes The Stones were in front.
A quickly taken free kick by Scott Lindsey found Mo
Takaloo on the edge of the penalty area. He skilfully
turned his marker and drove in a low shot from the left
hand side of goal. The ball flashed across Arterton
who did well to parry the ball but Rowland was ‘Johnny
on the spot’ to tap home from two yards.
With the visitors dominating proceedings, more goals
were anticipated from the large away support but there
were no real efforts of note apart from Ryan Royston’s
fine 20 yard drive after 37 minutes. A second goal did
come before half time though when Takaloo scored with
a fine individual effort. Collecting the ball just outside
the Slade Green penalty area, the skilful striker wriggled
past two defenders to coolly slot home a low finish
into the corner of the net.
With Maidstone looking comfortable, the game exploded
into action in the 54th minute. Aaron Lacy challenged
Tom Morgan on the halfway line and the Slade Green man
used his body to block Lacy from the ball. The Stones
player then threw a punch at Morgan which made contact
(although not particularly cleanly) and he fell to the
floor. Mr Wyatt saw the incident an instantly showed
Lacy a red card (the first dismissal of a Maidstone
player this season.) This was clearly the correct decision,
however, unfortunately, the incident took place directly
in front of the dug outs. Players from both sides reacted
but none more so than Lee Morgan, the brother of the
felled Tom Morgan. The central defender grabbed Lacy
by the throat and threateningly pushed his head into
the Maidstone player’s face. This, not surprisingly,
exacerbated the situation and a general melee ensued.
Once things had died down, the referee and his two
assistants convened a brief meeting to discuss events.
Most observers were fully expecting Lee Morgan to be
at least booked (if not dismissed) for his reaction
but to the dismay of the majority of the crowd, no further
action was taken. Strong words were exchanged and Stones
assistant coach Chris Hiscock was sent from the dugout
for sharing his point of view with the assistant referee.
Slade Green took a while to utilise their extra man
advantage but when they did create a clear chance, new
signing Scott Mulholland completely blew his chance
of getting the home side back into the game. Finding
himself unmarked and about 8 yards from goal, Mulholland
blasted high over Mullin’s cross bar and into the
banking behind the goal.
With emotions still running high, several hefty challenges
from both sides went unpunished but Jason Elliott did
find his way into the referee’s note book in the
64th minute. Two minutes later Jimmy Strouts came on
for Mo Takaloo and within 30 seconds had been booked
for a foul on Lee Jull.
Before being substituted late in the game Lee Morgan
managed to get himself booked after ploughing through
Nick Hegley from behind. Quite how it took Mr Wyatt
79 minutes to capture his name though is anybody’s
guess? With the game approaching its end and Green pushing
for a goal but not succeeding, Maidstone (by now playing
with just Rowland up front) managed to break away. Hegley
outsprinted the defence but was blatantly pulled back
by Gallagher. Before even looking at the referee, Gallagher
was making his way from the field, as there could only
be one possible outcome from this issue. With the numbers
on each side given parity once more, Maidstone failed
to make the free kick from in front of goal count.
With time rapidly running out, Slade Green were given
a gift wrapped opportunity to get back into the game.
The normally reliable Celaire was disposed just outside
his own penalty area and in a blink of an eye, the ball
was squared to substitute Robert Taylor who calmly slotted
the ball past Mullin to reduce the arrears.
Fortunately for Maidstone, they were able to hang on
to their advantage in the small amount of time that
remained and thus picked up the three points that keeps
them at the top of the Kent League table.
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