Hopefuls make name for themselves
Some Maidstone players in a much-changed Kent Senior Cup team didn’t know each other’s names. But a side packed with youngsters, plus Phil Starkey and 42-year-old assistant boss Nicky Southall, still clinched a place in round three. Craig Thompson gave Hythe the lead two minutes into the second half on Tuesday night but two goals in two minutes from Alex Akrofi and Richard Davies saw Stones through. The match was initially postponed with Stones’ FA Cup replay against Stevenage in mind but a fixture backlog triggered a U-turn in front of a reduced crowd of 249. Maidstone boss Jay Saunders said: “We just needed to get the game played. You can’t keep postponing games, although when we decided to play Hythe we thought we’d be able to move Met Police from Saturday. “The young lads from the academy were superb. There were three or four 16-year-olds and we’ve gone out and beaten a Ryman League, Division 1 South team who are used to playing with each other every week.” Route one led to Hythe’s opener, Thompson going through to beat Will Godmon but United equalised on 57 minutes when a cross from academy player James Sutherland was finished by Akrofi. And Stones were ahead two minutes later through Davies after Dan Eason made a double save from Starkey and Stefan Kempton at a corner. Maidstone: Godmon, Starkey, Rose, Davies, Kitt, Kempton ( Hayes 83mins), Southall, Robertson, Akrofi, Jeffrey ( Winch 76mins), Sutherland ( Bassan 58mins). Subs not used: Mackelden, McCarthy. Attendance: 249.