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A battling performance from Maidstone United earned them a point at high flying Sutton and this was achieved despite The Stones having to spend the last half an hour with ten men after the referee, Mr Kaye, had harshly sent off debutant Chris Saunders.
This was far from a classic encounter and there was little in the way of goalmouth action during the first half. However, it was the home side who should have taken the lead on four minutes when Steve McKimm drilled the ball into the box and picked out Danny Phillips who turned past Jermaine Darlington only to shoot past the far post.
It wasn’t until the 35th minute that there was anything else to note when Andy Walker made a stunning diving save to keep the scores level and then two minutes later, another dangerous free-kick from Matt Hann found Bradley Wood-Garness who headed the ball just wide of the left hand post.
The Stones started the second half in a more positive manner and on 49 minutes Saunders sent a delightful ball to Ant Bodle who was inside the box. Bodle elected to shoot first time and his volley found Kevin Scriven’s arms.
Sutton continued to create opportunities though and on 57 minutes, Hann’s corner from the right came to Steve Watts who headed the ball up into the air and then when it dropped back down, he shot wide of the left hand post.
Sixty seconds later, Saunders was rightly booked for a challenge but then just two minutes later, he was on the receiving end of a second yellow card despite clearly winning the ball as he went in for a tackle. Having been reduced to ten men, Pete Nott immediately made a double substitution replacing debutant Charlie Stimson and Antonio Gonella with Steve Elliott and Dean Hernandez-Bradshaw.
Then on 67 minutes, Sutton had a glorious chance to take the lead. An unfortunate attempted clearance from Roland Edge saw the ball sliced into the path of Jason Goodliffe who only had Walker to beat but he rushed his effort and thumped the ball wide.
Six minutes later, a good move from The Stones down the right ended with Jermaine Darlington crossing from the by-line and his cross reached substitute Lyndon Rowland but his volleyed effort was caught by Scriven just under the cross bar.
It was then Sutton’s turn to go close again when a corner from Hann was met by Watts whose header flew wide and then on 82 minutes Hann was involved again when he crossed for substitute Sam Gargan who saw his headed effort saved by Walker.
Then with the game just into stoppage time there was a nervy moment for The Stones when a long throw into the box from Billy Hawes caused panic in the Maidstone defence and Gargan had a shot blocked before the rebound fell to substitute Sonny Cobbs who headed goalwards only for Walker to expertly tip the ball over the bar.
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