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With 42 minutes of this enthralling FA Cup tie played, few would have thought that Maidstone United would comfortably ease into the draw for the next round on Monday morning. After all, The Stones found themselves a goal behind and they had failed to take the opportunities that had come their way against a physical and hardworking Halesowen side.
But then a mistake from Tom Kemp enabled Meshach Nugent to fire in the equaliser and Maidstone went goal crazy as they added two more to their tally inside an amazing four minutes at the end of the first half.
The three goals from United inside such a short period of time totally altered the game which until that point had been fairly evenly matched.
With just two minutes played, The Stones had an excellent chance to grab an early advantage when good work from Lloyd Blackman resulted in a corner down the left which was swung in by Ian Selley. The ball dropped to Andy Martin who scuffed his first shot but Martin reacted quickly and his second effort was cleared off the line by Darren Caskey.
Ten minutes later, Andy Walker kept the scores level with a good block at his near post to deny Helmi Michi and then from the resultant corner, the cross came to Lee Canoville who saw his fierce drive deflected off the line.
Despite pressure from the home side who moved the ball forwards quickly at every opportunity, The Stones looked dangerous on the break and particularly threatening from corners. On 16 minutes, a corner from Ian Selley was chested down by Jay Saunders to Andy Martin who was lurking 25 yards from goal and he hit a strong drive goalwards only for it to cannon off the crossbar.
However, the deadlock was broken on 27 minutes when Canoville crossed for Jay Denny who directed his header into the right hand side of the net.
Four minutes later, Chris Sanna had to be alert to tip a cross-shot from Nathan Paul over the bar and then on 37 minutes a good move from Maidstone saw Elliot Bradbrook pull the ball back into the middle to Martin who wasted the opportunity and put the ball over the bar.
Such was the exciting nature of the game, the play immediately swung to the other end and Halesowen should have doubled their lead when Justin Rowe found Aaron Cornwall only for Cornwall to shoot just wide.
Cornwall was involved again in the 43 rd minute when he injured himself diving in to tackle Ian Selley. With Cornwall lying on the turf hoping for play to be stopped, The Stones broke quickly and Paul sent the ball into the box. Kemp should have been able to snuff out the opportunity but he only succeeded in conceding possession to Nugent who needed no encouragement to riffle the ball past Sanna.
Two minutes later, Selley delivered a corner from the left which was headed down by Ian Cox and Saunders stabbed the ball in from close range and then shortly after, Maidstone extended their lead with a delightful goal. Nugent did well to win the ball in midfield and turn away from his marker before releasing Lloyd Blackman who raced to the edge of the area and cut into the box. With Sanna stranded, Blackman spotted the opportunity and curled a wonderful finish into the top right hand corner of the net.
Despite the half time interval, The Stones continued to terrorise the Halesowen defence immediately after the break and Nugent had two fantastic opportunities to add to his tally. However, the Maidstone striker headed his first chance over the ball from close range and then from a cross from Blackman, he opted to hit the ball with his foot rather than heading it and he failed to hit the target.
These misses seemed to give the home side encouragement and for 20 minutes, Halesowen put The Stones under concerted pressure. During this spell, Justin Rowe got the better of Cox and released substitute Mark Danks who moved inside Bradbrook and forced Walker into a save at his near post and then on 62 minutes, Cox conceded a free-kick in a central position just outside the box and Danks saw his curling effort just go wide.
Having survived this difficult period, The Stones then made sure of their place in the next round when on 76 minutes, a cross from Saunders struck Kemp’s arm and Selley blasted in his second penalty inside a week.
Four minutes later, Walker had to make a good block to deny substitute Jermaine Palmer and with the game almost in stoppage time, the unmarked Palmer headed wide from a corner but there were to be no further goals and Maidstone United can now look forward to the draw for the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup for the first time since they reformed.
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