It’s mission accomplished, says Hayrettin
The result was all that mattered for head coach Hakan Hayrettin after Maidstone edged past lowerleague Hitchin in the FA Cup. United weren’t at their best but came from a goal down to get the job done, with victory confirmed by Jake Cole’s late penalty save.
Hayrettin said: “The most important thing was for us to get through. It’s a bit of kudos for the club, a bit of money for the club.
“We didn’t really get what we wanted out of the players but, saying that, we’re through. “Cup football’s got a way of producing upsets and we were nearly one of those upsets. “But we hung on in there and we’re through.”
Goals from Noah Chesmain and Ibby Akanbi saw Maidstone overturn an early deficit but they needed Cole’s 78th-minute penalty save to avoid being taken to a replay by the Southern League strugglers.
Hayrettin said: “We didn’t play as well as we could do – we know that – and we knew they could be a potential banana skin.
“With cup games anything can happen, as we saw in the round before a lot of teams from higher echelons lost to lower teams.
“They’re not a bad outfit, they threw the kitchen sink at us and could have got a replay, but our goalkeeper did his job there and saved a penalty. “The reaction to going behind was good. We played some good stuff, opened them up and scored two good goals but we could have capitalised on that and got a few more. “Jake Cole earned his money, didn’t he? He’s someone I chased when I came here and we got him.
“We’ve got him and Chrissy Lewington, who are both experienced goalkeepers who can play the level above this.”