It may be eleven weeks since the 2006-2007 season ended but for Errison Ahwan it was like he had never had a break as continued his goal scoring exploits from midfield by volleying in a stunning winner in Maidstone’s opening pre-season friendly.
Ahwan’s strike was not the only highlight of the evening as The Stones put in a good high tempo performance with a number of players impressing. Amongst those who caught the eye was Robert Corbishley who was returning to Maidstone after attending university. It was hard to believe that Corbishley had only played British University standard football as he seamlessly slotted in at right back as Lloyd Hume remarked afterwards saying: “He looked so comfortable at right back. Although he tired a bit towards the end of the second half and made a couple of mistakes because of this, his overall performance was great and he certainly didn’t look out of place.”
It was Corbishley who had the first shot on target of the evening on eight minutes when he rode a challenge on the edge of the area before curling the ball into the arms of ex-Burgess Hill keeper Andre Foster.
Playing in a new look 4-3-3 formation, Maidstone dominated the early stages as they demonstrated that most of their players had surprisingly high fitness levels for the first game of the pre-season.
However, with fourteen minutes gone, The Stones were fortunate not to concede a penalty when Mario McNish controlled the ball on the edge of the area before losing his footing and accidentally twice handling the ball in the process.
Two minutes later, McNish was involved again when a roving run from central defence ended with him cutting inside the Thurrock defence from the right and lifting his shot over the bar.
At every opportunity, Corbishley was providing good support down the right hand side and another early cross from the right back picked out Andy Martin who headed just over.
Then on thirty eight minutes, Sam Tydeman sent a drive wide from a central position and then just a minute later, Simon Austin found himself in a good position inside the Thurrock box, only to slide his shot the wrong side of the left hand post.
Having enjoyed the best the first half, The Stones almost conceded on the stroke of half time when Fola Orllonishe gained possession just inside the six yard box but he was denied by a superb tackle from Corbishley.
After the break, Maidstone resorted to their familiar 4-4-2 formation as Hume made changes to the starting line up.
The home side were just beginning to enjoy the greater
share of possession when on fifty five minutes the ball
dropped in front of Ahwan who smacked a dipping volley
straight into the middle of the goal to give Maidstone’s
pre-season campaign the best possible start.
<
< < Back to match reports index
|
