Sleepy Stones wake up too late
BROMLEY
Maidstone conceded after just 20 seconds in their 2- 0 National League defeat at Bromley last Saturday.
Adam Cunnington was the scorer, with ex-Stones winger George Porter making sure of the points midway through the second half.
It left Stones boss Jay Saunders bemoaning his side’s inconsistency once again.
Bromley, on paper, were nowhere near as good as the Eastleigh team United had beaten five days earlier, yet Saunders’ men were unrecognisable from that performance, be it the shock of the early goal or just one of those days.
It wasn’t a day for pretty football – a heavy pitch saw to that – but by the time Maidstone started to throw themselves into tackles and make life uncomfortable for Bromley it was already game over at 2- 0 down.
The away fans enjoyed their day, though, with more their 500 in a crowd of 1,676 creating a magnificent atmosphere.
With the singing at full-time, you would have thought Maidstone had put four or five past the Lillywhites and were top of the table, not looking over their shoulder in 18th place.
It’s clear the novelty of just being in the National League is enough to keep supporters happy and to see.
United were caught cold from a throw-in just after the kick-off with Dave Martin’s cross headed home by Cunnington, climbing above Kevin Lokko, from the first attack.
Cunnington uses his large frame to put himself about and United struggled to handle him at times but they simply weren’t switched on at the start.
Maidstone recovered to force a couple of corners through Bobby-Joe Taylor, while Dan Sweeney headed wide from Seth Twumasi’s cross.
The tempo was high but there wasn’t a great deal of quality on either side, United running into trouble from good positions or wasting crossing opportunities.
Bromley looked more dangerous in attack and put better balls in the box, without looking like adding to their lead.
Cunnington mustered a couple of tame efforts, easily dealt with by Lee Worgan, while Lee Minshull sent a header from Connor Dymond’s cross on to roof of the net.
Worgan got down well to keep out a tricky free-kick from Martin just before the hour, then did even better to deny the same man at the near post.
From the corner, there was an almighty scramble with the ball hitting the bar and Bromley having at least three or four attempts at forcing it home before United cleared.
The hosts soon doubled their lead, though, with Porter first to Blair Turgott’s cross and heading into the far corner after 65 minutes.
Stones didn’t look like they had a goal in them, although substitute Jamar Loza tried to change that. A good run from deep and a onetwo with Jack Evans took him into the box but his shot was blocked. Maidstone: Worgan, Twumasi, Mills, Coyle, Lokko, Rogers, Sweeney, Paxman (Loza 51mins), Taylor (Evans 68mins), Odubade (Greenhalgh 68mins), Flisher. Subs not used: Driver, Acheampong. Attendance: 1,676 (511 Maidstone fans). it’s brilliant