Boss Still praises Chesmain’s wonder goal
John Still said no keeper would have saved Noah Chesmain’s wonder strike as Maidstone marched on in the FA Cup.
All the goals came in the second half as the Stones beat Kings Langley 4-1 in the final qualifying round.
The highlight was Chesmain’s free-kick which gave them the comfort of a 3-0 cushion against their Southern League opponents. With a tiny gap to aim for, and the angle against him, he somehow found the top corner with a brilliant strike that went in off the post. Stones head of football Still said: “I’ll tell you what, he comes up with them, doesn’t he? He’s got a great strike. “I was almost in line with it. I couldn’t see how he was going to score. I knew he was going to shoot and I thought, ‘I don’t know where you’re going to put it.’
“It was a fantastic free-kick. I don’t care who was in goal, I don’t think you’re going to save it.”
It was Chesmain’s third goal this season, and he also has five assists to his name after setting up Ryan Johnson’s opener from a corner.
A 4-1 victory hadn’t looked likely following a goalless first half but Maidstone found their form.
Still said: “When games are tough, you rely on people to come up with something to win you games and spark the team. A bit earlier in the season I’m not sure we would have had that but we do have that now.
“When we get in a hole we find a way of getting out of it and, you know what, I’ve had this before and it can change a lot of things.”
Still had no complaints with the second-half sending-off of Ross Marshall. The former Ipswich man was dismissed on his home debut after a clash with Harry Crawford.
Still said: “It’s a red card. He’s been kicked off the ball and then Ross has chased him. He shouldn’t have done what he did. We’ll have a word with him because what you can’t do is put your team in a difficult position.”