For the first time in a year, Maidstone United have kept two consecutive clean sheets as they continued their pre-season preparations with a narrow victory at VCD Athletic.
Just like in the corresponding match twelve months ago, VCD fielded a number of ex-Stones players and this time they included their new signings Nick Hegley and Simon Austin. Meanwhile, Maidstone’s squad included only two players – Ray Freeman and James Peacock – who had featured in the corresponding fixture last year.
It was The Stones who looked the sharper and stronger of the two sides and Roland Edge and substitute Elliot Bradbrook particularly shone with Bradbrook controlling the centre of midfield for the thirty minutes he was on the pitch.
Maidstone also fielded trialists Luke Williams and Mark Haines in the first half and on 16 minutes, a shot from Williams hit the left hand post.
Sixty seconds later, Andy Walker was called into action for the only time during the game when he made a good save to concede a corner before some neat passing football from The Stones ended with Alex Tiesse creating space for a shot that fizzed across the six yard box.
The winning goal came with just 23 minutes on the clock and just like at Great Wavering Rovers on Tuesday night, Tiesse was instrumental in the deadlock being broken when the VCD defence failed to clear his shot and James Pinnock pounced to side foot in his first goal for The Stones.
Just after the break, the home side came close to equalising when Danny Penny, nursing a cut eye following a clash of heads with Peacock a few minutes before the break, out jumped the Maidstone midfielder and directed his header onto the bar.
With 51 minutes played, The Stones should have doubled their lead. Williams swung over a corner from the right hand side which was headed on by Peacock and the ball dropped to the unmarked Tiesse who hit a weak shot that was easily gathered by the VCD keeper.
Former Maidstone player Steve Hogg was then fortunate not to score an embarrassing own goal on 60 minutes when he nearly diverted Kevin Watson’s deep cross into his own net but thereafter, there was little to excite the crowd at Oakwood.
< <
< Back to match reports index
|
