Maidstone United 1-2 Margate

Maidstone United: Erskine 26

Margate: Pinnock 2, McKimm 90+1

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Maidstone United: Pat Mullin, Nathan Paul, Craig Roser, Ben Lewis, Lee Shearer, Rob Owen (sub 61 Aaron Lacy), Sam Tydeman, Conor Hagan (sub 78 Nick Hegley), Jacob Erskine, Andy Pugh, Chris Smalling Subs not used: Alex Tiesse, Mo Takalobigashi, Steve Northwood

Margate: Scott Chalmers-Stevens, Ryan Peters, Ricardo Stephens, Ryan Martin (sub 76 Aaron Quain), Louis Smith, Robin Trott, Steve McKimm, Jay Saunders, James Pinnock, Rob Haworth, Jimmy Jackson Subs not used: Kieron Moss, Roberto Corbishley, Mark Goodfellow, Matt Bowles

Alan Walker  (3.2Mb)

This was the kind of game that made you wish you owned a cat, so that you could alleviate the frustration by booting it round your living room.

The ending could be described as mildly annoying, in the same way that Alan Carr might be described as mildly camp.

When Steve McKimm lobbed Pat Mullin 45 seconds into injury-time it condemned the Stones to a second consecutive derby defeat, but once again it was the way that Maidstone began this game that did for them.

They at least held out for longer than than the 37 seconds they managed in the reverse fixture at Hartsdown Park, but with just 65 seconds on the clock James Pinnock had drilled Margate in front with a near post shot that crept into Mullin's net.

The list of teams who've caught Maidstone with their pants round their ankles in the opening minutes of games this season continues to grow. Margate away, Boreham Wood away, Ramsgate and AFC Wimbledon at home and now this.

It was very nearly the grizzliest opening since Alfred Molina bought the farm at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark as with three minutes gone Ben Lewis cleared a cross with what looked like an arm.

He was penalised for less against AFC Wimbledon and perhaps realising how lucky they'd been, his team mates seized the initiative, playing the better football for the rest of the half.

Jacob Erskine nearly lobbed Maidstone level just 60 seconds later when his effort just cleared the bar, while Chris Smalling added another entry to his litany of near-misses when his header was saved by Scott Chalmers-Stevens.

On 26 minutes Maidstone were back in the game, courtesy of the Gate player/manager Robin Trott, who having scored an own goal during the Stones 4-3 win at Hartsdown Park earlier this season, made an equally serious error when he sliced Chris Smalling's pass straight to Erskine.

Having already had a sighter, Erskine this time judged his lob perfectly, sending the ball over the stranded Chalmers-Stevens head to make it 1-1.

It was no less than the Stones deserved and though Sam Tydeman had to clear a Pinnock header off the line, the home side held sway for the rest of the half, with Trott and Chalmers-Stevens both looking like startled rabbits every time they were asked to deal with a bouncing ball.

The keeper only just recovered after fumbling Andy Pugh's 28th-minute shot and he then had to bail out his manager when another shanked clearance nearly went straight to an amber shirt.

Margate made the better start to the second period with Rob Haworth, a man who looks like a cross between Peter Crouch and Elvis Presley, forcing a corner from a cautious Mullin who palmed the ball to safety even though it was heading wide.

Erskine was then denied a one-on-one when the luckless referee blew for a foul on Sam Tydeman, not realising that his mishit pass had put the striker in the clear. For the rest of the game the teams traded blows. Smalling flung himself at a goalbound effort from Trott, then
Pugh's shot pinged off the inside of Chalmers-Stevens' post from 20 yards. Lewis thwarted Jackson and Pugh tried and failed to pull off an ambitious backheel from a Nick Hegley cross.

Pugh then split the Margate defence, only for Chalmers-Stevens to smother the ball at Hegley's feet and set up a sickening denouement for the home side. A partially cleared ball fell to the Margate captain McKimm, who spotted Mullin off his line and picked his spot.

That was rough justice for Maidstone, but after Andy Martin's equally late winner at Hartsdown perhaps it was karma. Whatever, it could be a busy night for the RSPCA inspectors in the Maidstone area.

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