| Maidstone United have moved into pole position at the top of Ryman League One after a hard fought victory away at Fleet Town.
The deciding goal came as early as the fourteenth minute and for long periods of the second half in particular, The Stones had to cope with concerted Fleet pressure yet for all of their possession, Fleet never forced Pat Mullin into making a significant save.
Unsurprisingly, Lloyd Hume was thrilled with his side saying: “I’ve said all along that Fleet are one of the best sides in this league and we knew that it would be tough tonight. I thought we were very professional and I am delighted with the players.”
The game got off to a frantic start as both sides looked to strike an early blow and it was The Stones who settled the quickest and had the first opportunity on five minutes. Alex Tiesse was fouled close to the left hand corner spot and from the resultant free-kick Aaron Lacy picked out Lee Shearer who was unmarked at the back post but his header was comfortably held by Justin Gray.
Then with fourteen minutes played, the deadlock was broken. Once again Lacy was involved and this time it was his throw which fell to Ryan Royston. Royston’s header from close to the penalty spot was blocked and when the rebound came back to him he lashed his shot low into the left hand corner of the net. There was a brief delay as the referee, John Busby, consulted the linesman who had raised his flag during the process but the referee disagreed that an offence had taken place and let the goal stand.
As the half progressed, the home side began to come more into the game and on nineteen minutes Jermaine Hamilton evaded Sam Tydeman only to shoot straight at Pat Mullin but this was to be Fleet’s only effort on target in the first period.
After the break, Fleet cranked up the pressure on The Stones goal. On 48 minutes Ben White fired a volley just wide and then four minutes later the home side had their best opportunity to equalise. White’s corner came straight back out to him and he whipped in an excellent cross which landed on the unmarked Michael Douglas’ head. As he was only a couple of yards out, Douglas really should have buried the opportunity but the ball span off the top of his head and onto the crossbar before it was cleared to safety.
Maidstone were relying on hitting Fleet on the break and on fifty nine minutes The Stones managed to relieve the pressure when Lacy’s throw was headed on by substitute Lynden Rowland to Nick Hegley. Hegley managed to pull the ball back into the middle and this time, Rowland’s header was comfortably held by Gray.
Then on seventy four minutes, The Stones had a good opportunity to add a second goal. Sam Tydeman’s corner was headed out as far as Craig Roser and he sent the ball straight back into the box. Alex Tiesse had time to bring the ball down but then he rushed his shot, dragging it wide of the far post.
Just one minute later, the Fleet fans appealed loudly for a penalty after they had felt substitute Mario McNish had pushed Tony Reid as he tried to get on the end of substitute Eddie Smith’s header but the referee, John Busby, was unimpressed.
With time beginning to run out, Hegley had a fantastic chance to ease the nerves of The Stones supporters. Once again, the Lacy throw-Rowland flick combination worked well leaving the ball to drop nicely to the on-rushing Hegley who blazed the ball well over the bar.
Fortunately for Maidstone though, the missed chances were not to prove costly as Fleet couldn’t force an equaliser and The Stones wrapped up another double to climb to the summit of Ryman League One.
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