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After the highs of Saturday’s trip to Halesowen it was back down to earth with a crash for Maidstone United as a flat and disjointed performance saw them defeated on the road for the first time this season.
The Stones never really got going in this fixture and Horsham should have taken an early lead when on five minutes, Evan Archibald’s shot smashed off the bar following a corner and Andy Walker did well to parry Archibald’s follow up effort.
Seven minutes later, Alex Haddow fed Lee Farell out on the left and his drive the near post was pushed wide by Walker.
However, from Russell Eldridge’s corner on 13 minutes there was hesitation in the Maidstone defence and Archibald took full advantage to side foot the ball in from close range.
Seconds later, Maidstone nearly grabbed an immediate equaliser but Paul Seuke pushed Meshach Nugent’s strong shot wide and then from a free-kick from a central position, Ian Selley saw his effort drop just over the bar.
Then with 26 minutes gone, the home side doubled their lead when Kevin Watson was left exposed on Maidstone’s right hand side and Mark Knee sailed past Watson and into the box before shooting into the far corner of the net.
It didn’t take long though for The Stones to haul themselves back into the game as three minutes later, James Pinnock was brought down in the area by Seuke. The Horsham keeper was perhaps fortunate to only receive a yellow card for the foul and from the resultant spot-kick, Ian Selley converted his third penalty in as many games.
As the game moved towards the break the home side began to dominate and they should have added a third goal two minutes before the interval. Lee Carey easily went past Ian Cox and then the home side were allowed to pass the ball around before Jean-Michel Sigere finally had a shot which Nathan Paul managed to block on the line.
Shortly after and with the game in first half stoppage time, Selley conceded possession in midfield and Haddow picked the ball up and entered the area only for Walker to make a good save.
The second half was quiet and there was little to note until the 66 th minute. A long throw from substitute Aaron Lacy went into the box and Nugent appeared to be fouled as he challenged for the ball. However, no penalty was forthcoming and a long clearance up field fell to Archibald who went round the diving Walker who managed to get a vital touch to divert the ball wide.
But three minutes later, Walker could not prevent Lee Farell firing Horsham further in front and any hopes Maidstone had of getting a point from the game were then dashed on 76 minutes when substitute Seb Schoburgh’s rasping drive from a Lacy corner was blocked on the line by Archibald.
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