Stones on the Cup trail again
CHELTENHAM
That night against Stevenage might just have been replaced by that day at Cheltenham when Maidstone fans get into FA Cup chat.
No one will ever forget United’s first-round replay win over Stevenage as a Ryman League club three years ago.
But the way they took another League 2 side to the cleaners in their own backyard on Saturday probably trumps the win over Boro.
A backs-to-thewall 1- 0 would have been savoured by the 700 or so travelling fans, so they could hardly believe their eyes as Maidstone ripped into their Football League hosts, leading 3- 0 and 4-1 before surviving a late bombardment.
It was an afternoon Delano Sam-Yorke won’t forget in a hurry either, scoring twice before being sent off for flying in on Mo Eisa.
But if Maidstone have fines in place for red cards they’ve surely got to let Sam-Yorke off after scoring the crucial first and fourth goals.
Cheltenham fans were angry and let their side know it.
At 4-1 down, a terrace chant slating their team was sung on loop until their second goal – it was like being on the set of a Mike Bassett film. Cheltenham were terrible but Maidstone made them look bad with the quality of their performance. They’d gone close several times before SamYorke headed home Seth Twumasi’s cross for the 20th-minute opener. It was 2- 0 less than a minute later, Pigott running on to Twumasi’s clearance and shaking off centre-half Taylor Moore before beating Scott Flinders. Furious Robins boss Gary Joh ns on – later sent to the stands – made a double change after half an hour but it made no difference. The visitors continued to dominate and went 3- 0 up on 43 minutes when Jai Reason’s lovely ball over the top played in Hines who beat Flinders with a classy lob from the corner of the area. Cheltenham thought they were back in business when Eisa’s cross was headed in by Kevin Dawson in the 53rd minute.
But Maidstone restored their three-goal lead straight from the restart with Pigott finding Sam-Yorke who went past his man and finished.
From the high of scoring, Sam-Yorke’s afternoon was over on 57 minutes when he went in on Eisa. That lifted Cheltenham and they had another sniff on the hour when the ball went in off Alex Finney for an own goal after Lee Worgan saved from Brian Graham.
Worgan made an excellent save from Harry Pell’s header as crosses rained into the box and kept out further efforts from Graham and Pell.
But any hopes of a Cheltenham comeback were over on 80 minutes when goalscorer Dawson went in horribly on Worgan, who already had the ball in his hands and was dismissed. Maidstone: Worgan, Twumasi (Okuonghae 55mins), Anderson, Wynter, Finney, Lewis, Prestedge, Reason (Wraight 82mins), Sam-Yorke, Pigott (Loza 84mins), Hines. Subs not used: Muldoon, Taylor, Phipps, ter Horst. Attendance: 2,799.