| Goals from Alex Tiesse, Lynden Rowland and Ryan Royston saw The Stones complete their first Ryman League One double at the expense of Hastings United. Thanks to the recent inclement weather, this was only the fourth fixture Maidstone had played in seven weeks but despite this, they managed to bring an end to Hastings’ nine match unbeaten league run.
However, it was the visitors who enjoyed the majority of possession for the first 60 minutes of this game yet they found themselves trailing by two goals at the break. With just 16 minutes played, James Sims hauled Mario McNish to the floor as Aaron Lacy sent over a free-kick and Tiesse converted the resultant penalty.
McNish then almost immediately gifted Hastings an equaliser when he accidentally headed Danny Ellis’ cross towards goal but fortunately the ball bounced off the bar.
By now, Hastings were clearly the dominant side but for all their possession, they couldn’t test Pat Mullin in The Stones’ goal and with the game in first half stoppage time, an excellent break led to Maidstone stretching their lead. Tiesse won the ball in midfield and his flick sent Nick Hegley racing down the left hand side and crossing for Rowland to bundle the ball over the line.
The early part of the second half continued in a similar vein and within two minutes of the restart, Maidstone were desperately unlucky to concede a goal when Royston’s attempted clearance rocketed against Nathan Paul’s stomach and into the net.
Just as it seemed as if The Stones would be overwhelmed by Hastings’ pressure, Maidstone grabbed a vital third goal on 64 minutes. Aaron Lacy hurled an excellent long throw into the box and it landed straight on Royston’s head before flying past the helpless Lee Worgan.
This goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Hastings and from then on, with the exception of two efforts from substitute Russell Eldridge, the visitors rarely threatened to get back into the game.
So although The Stones have hardly played in recent weeks they are now unbeaten in seven games and manager Alan Walker was in a positive mood after the game saying: “The beauty of looking at things at the moment is we’ve got four fantastic strikers, four fantastic centre halves, we’ve got great competition in midfield, we’ve got people who can cover positions and we’ve got two great keepers. Things are looking great for us. The only thing I am concerned about is the fact that we have quite a few players on, or near, a suspension now but because we have a lot of competition for places I am hoping that will carry us through.”
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