A sensational last-minute strike by Nathan Paul earned ten-man Maidstone a point, after a fightback that eclipsed even last year's heroics at Longmead.

It was either one of the greatest goals you’ll ever see or an outrageous fluke, but whether Paul intended to cross or shoot, the only thing that mattered was that the ball flew from his boot from the edge of the penalty box, past Angels keeper Lee Worgan and into the top corner.

For the second consecutive derby Tonbridge blew a seemingly unassailable lead and they only have themselves to blame after spurning a host of chances to kill off the Stones.

The visitors had the edge during a tepid opening period and should have gone ahead when Jamie Cade shot wide in the sixth-minute.

And it was 1-0 after 24 minutes, when the visitors were awarded a penalty after a needless push on Scott Gooding.
Carl Rook, a player Alan Walker once tried to sign from Horsham and who is currently on trial with Brighton, converted emphatically and United’s afternoon got even worse when Ashley Ulph limped off, forcing Roland Edge to move to left back and Dan Stubbs to play in midfield.

Just when it looked like the Stones would have been happy to reach the interval without sustaining further damage, Dean Hernandez-Bradshaw was sent off for raising his hands, after an incident with Kirk Watts, who was involved in several of the game‘s flashpoints.

Exactly what happened was unclear, but it looked like a classic case of a hot-headed young player allowing himself to get wound up by a more streetwise opponent.

The pair had already clashed moments earlier and after Stubbs had wasted a free-kick in the final minute of the half, Watts could be seen rolling on the turf, while Hernandez-Bradshaw was shown a straight red.

An incandescent Hernandez-Bradshaw stalked off the pitch, leaving the crowd in no doubt how he felt and the crowd in turn pointed the finger, in every sense of the word, at Watts as the players walked off for the interval.

James Pinnock’s appeal for a penalty was waved away in the 54th minute and the mood among home fans darkened further when Paul was booked for an innocuous challenge on Watts.

When Lee Minshull headed in Steve Ferguson’s free-kick in via the far post in the 63rd minute the game looked dead, but Cade then missed another sitter and with 19 minutes to go the visitors handed United a lifeline when Gooding senselessly climbed all over Edge and Pinnock converted the resulting penalty.

Rook flashed a shot wide with a quarter of an hour to play and a slip by Peter Hawkins nearly let in Ferguson, but he made a vital recovery tackle to keep Maidstone in the game.

With United finally starting to trouble a tiring Angels defence an equaliser began to look possible, but time appeared to be running out until Paul’s late intervention completed one of the least likely comebacks since afro-haired pop chanteur Leo Sayer went to number one with “Thunder in my Heart.”

Maidstone United: James Pinnock 71 (pen), Nathan Paul 90

Tonbridge Angels: Carl Rook 24 (pen), Lee Minshull 63

Maidstone United: Jamie Turner, Nathan Paul, Ashley Ulph (Dan Stubbs 30), Ant Bodle (James Peacock 81), Peter Hawkins, Tom Parkinson, Roland Edge, Jay Saunders, James Pinnock, Keelan Mooney (Aaron Firth 58), Dean Hernandez-Bradshaw.
Subs: Jimmy Bottle, Richard Knell.

Sent off: Dean Hernandez-Bradshaw 45

Tonbridge Angels: Lee Worgan, Lewis Hamilton (Gavin Dayes 43), Jon Heath, Jamie Cade, Lee Minshull, Scott Gooding, Steve Ferguson, Anthony Storey, Paul Booth (Jean-Michal Sigere 83), Carl Rook, Kirk Watts.
Sub: Paul Butler.

Lloyd Hume

Man of the Match Poll

Pictures from Steve Terrell