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Maidstone United are still searching for their first win of pre-season after they were defeated by their old Kent League rivals Hythe Town.
After the goalless draw away at Whyteleafe on Saturday, Peter Nott once again took the opportunity to look at a number of different players and The Stones initially started brightly.
With just one minute played James Peacock slipped the ball into Adam Marsh who struck a low shot goalwards only for Kieron Mann to make a good save and turn the ball away from the base of the right hand post.
Then on six minutes the home side had their first chance on goal when Damien Abel sent over a corner from the left which was met by Brendon Cass but Andy Walker made a smart block.
Shortly afterwards Mike Yianni found Abel who curled the ball wide of the target as Hythe began to dominate and it wasn’t long before the home side took the lead. On 13 minutes Maidstone’s defence was split open leaving Craig Thompson in on goal and the former Stones player lifted a superb finish past the stranded Walker.
Three minutes later, Maidstone fell further behind when Joe Fuller felled Abel inside the box and although Walker made a good save to initially deny Dave Cook from the penalty spot with his legs, Cook reacted quickly to convert the rebound.
Hythe continued to look the stronger of the two sides and on 18 minutes Walker saved Brendon Cass’ free-kick before The Stones finally threatened when Adrian Stone’s low shot looked to be going in until Mann intervened with a fine one handed stop.
With just over half an hour played, Lee Winfield’s free-kick flew just wide and then at the other end Marsh’s effort from distance also just failed to hit the target.
However, it was the home side who went close again as the half time approached when Cass’ effort from close range was headed off the line by Clarey and then matters got worse for The Stones on 45 minutes when James Peacock was sent off for foul and abusive language.
The second half was not as incident packed but Maidstone pulled a goal back on 69 minutes when Marsh was fouled in the box and he converted the resultant penalty.
But it did not take long for Hythe to restore their two goal advantage as on 74 minutes Yianni’s shot was well saved by substitute goal keeper Harry Lee only for the ball to drop to Cass who could not miss from close range.
The final attempt on goal of the game came from The Stones though as with just one minute remaining Gonnella squared a free-kick to substitute Jake Hobbs who was close to the edge of the area and his swerving effort crashed off the bar and rebounded to safety.
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