Saunders: Green are on a different level
down on the edge of the box and Evans curled a 20-yard strike into the bottom corner.
Stones briefly enjoyed more of the ball after the goal but Forest Green were soon in their stride again, Worgan saving well from MarshBrown, Liam Payne and Rhys Murphy.
Just when it looked as though United were going in level, Ben Jefford lost Sweeney, got down the left and crossed for Christian Doidge to slot home in first-half injury-time.
Early in the second half, Mills made a key block after a lovely one-touch move opened up the home defence, Liam Noble finding Rhys Murphy, Jay Saunders said Maidstone aren’t ready to compete with the likes of Forest Green after their 4-1 humbling, writes Craig Tucker. The National League title favourites were a class apart in United’s heavy home defeat. And Stones boss Saunders said: “I thought they were a very good side, the best side we’ve had down here in a long time. “To be honest, we’re not really in a position to be challenging teams like that at the moment. We’re not there yet as a side. “It gives you some idea of where you’ve got to get to to be successful in this league or to even think of challenging.” Saunders felt his team were outclassed in midfield as Forest Green dominated at the Gallagher. He was disappointed to see heads drop after the whose backheel set up Carter.
Stones enjoyed a strong spell around the hour mark. Ben Greenhalgh’s shot was blocked after Paxman’s quick free-kick saw Mills feed substitute Tom Murphy for a cross, and the latter curled wide from inside the box.
But Rovers added their third against the run of play on 75 minutes, the defending questionable as Rhys Murphy went through the middle and visitors – 2-1 up at half-time – added their third on 75 minutes. A fourth soon followed as Mark Cooper’s side ran out easy winners. But Saunders added: “We’re not judging ourselves against teams like this because Forest Green are a side that were close to promotion last year and they’ll be there or thereabouts this year. “We’ve got to look at other teams that are more around us. “We’ll learn from it and move on but the lads know that today we came up against a much better side and that’s the long and short of it. “We’ll learn from it and move on but let’s not get too down about it. “We’ve got to find a way to compete with sides like that but, at the moment, we’re not ready for that.” fired the first of his two goals into the corner.
The fourth followed on 79 minutes, substitute Kieffer Moore getting up the left and squaring for the unmarked striker to score again.
Alex Flisher hit a post as Stones went close to a late second. Maidstone: Worgan, Evans, Mills, Acheampong, Lokko, Rogers (Dumaka 72mins), Sweeney (Hall-Johnson 65mins), Paxman, Flisher, Greenhalgh, Taylor (Murphy 46mins). Subs not used: Coyle, Karagiannis. Attendance: 2,274.