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After ensuring their Ryman Premier League status on Thursday night with a narrow win over Bognor Regis, The Stones travelled to Kingstonian for the last game of the season in a relaxed mood and a point from this game means that they finished the 2009/2010 campaign in 18th place.
This was a good performance from Maidstone and after surviving a few early scares they went close themselves on five minutes when Adrian Stone fired the ball over after Antonio Gonnella had created the opportunity.
Gonnella himself then curled the ball wide shortly afterwards before Rob Lyall saw a header comfortably saved on nine minutes.
After a bright start to the game there was then little else to note until the 24 th minute when Kingstonian opened the scoring. A long diagonal ball was sent into the box and Matt Gray arrived to send a looping header past Maidstone keeper Andy Walker.
The Stones then had a chance to respond quickly on 27 minutes but Danny Hockton blazed over from a good position before Maidstone went even closer after half an hour played. Ant Bodle lifted a deep cross to the back post which reached Stone and from just a couple of yards out the Maidstone striker saw his shot come back off the left hand post.
Then on 35 minutes, Lyall was fouled on the edge of the box and Roland Edge’s resultant free-kick came back off the wall to Gonnella whose shot across goal looked to be creeping inside the right hand post until Rob Tolfrey intervened with an excellent finger tip save to divert the ball wide.
Gonnella was involved again three minutes before the break when Edge expertly won the ball in midfield and curled a delightful pass for Gonnella to chase but the Maidstone player’s eventual shot went well wide.
The second half was a much quieter affair with Kingstonian pinning Maidstone inside their own half for long periods and on 56 minutes Gray’s corner picked out Christian Jolley who was in a good position but he headed wide.
However, as the half wore on The Stones began to enjoy more possession and they equalised with 68 minutes played when Lyall saw his shot strike the hand of Simon Hucket and Hockton stepped up to convert the penalty.
Maidstone then had to play out the remaining sixteen minutes with ten men after Chris Saunders saw red for his second bookable offence but their defence held firm to ensure that The Stones ended the season on a positive note.
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