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Whitstable Town have proved to be
tough opposition for The Stones in recent seasons and
so it was the case again as Maidstone slipped to only
their second defeat of the season against The Oystermen.
This was a game of few chances played in difficult
conditions thanks to a strong cold swirling wind blowing
throughout but Lloyd Hume refused to make excuses for
his side saying afterwards: I’m disappointed that
we’ve lost a big game, I’m disappointed that
we didn’t perform in a big game and I’ve left
the players in no uncertain terms about how I feel that
they have let the club, the supporters and Alan, Chris
and I down. I don’t think that we deserved anything
from the game today and we didn’t get anything
and that annoys me.”
Mo Takaloo had Maidstone’s best opportunities
of the first half which saw a below par Stones struggle
to impose themselves on the visitors. Takaloo first
forced Sam Mott to tip the ball wide after a good run
and pass from Lee Sperring and then he found himself
with just Mott to beat but he elected to shoot early
and he scuffed his shot wide.
In between however, Whitstable took the lead when Scott
Lindsey opened his scoring account for The Stones at
the wrong end, nodding in Aaron Knight’s corner.
Lloyd Hume and Alan Walker introduced Jimmy Strouts
and Jason Barton for Nathan Paul and Scott Lindsey and
The Stones emerged in the second half a much stronger
force. Takaloo should have equalised on 50 minutes when
Lynden Rowland headed Mott’s goal kick into his
fellow striker’s path but Takaloo put the chance
wide.
Then Aaron Lacy’s intelligent quick throw picked
out Rowland on the edge of the box who beat the on-rushing
Mott and passed to Takaloo but Ian Hossick saw his sliced
clearance just clear the bar. However, Takaloo made
up for his earlier misses with a fine equaliser on 57
minutes when he latched onto Lacy’s quick throw
and slotted the ball past Mott.
It seemed that at this stage, Maidstone would go onto
win the game especially as they were putting Whitstable
under pressure with some high tempo football. But with
68 minutes played, The Oystermen had a rare attack that
saw Andy Constable pluck the ball out of the air before
striking a terrific volley, which crashed off the underside
of the bar. Despite Pat Mullin’s best efforts to
get across the goal, Steve Marshall had the simple job
of planting a header into the net to give Whitstable
Town the three points.
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