Rolling Stones
It’s all over now for Stevenage as Corne makes history Maidstone 1 Corne 45+2 (pen) Stevenage 0
‘WE set out today to make sure history was made,’ George Elokobi, said after watching any club called Maidstone United reach the FA Cup fourth round for the first time.
Elokobi, the Cameroon-born former Wolves defender, was speaking on the Gallagher Stadium pitch having seen his mission accomplished.
Neither the United that folded in 1992 after running out of money, players and time, nor the one that started again in the Kent County League fourth division had progressed this far in the competition.
Sam Corne’s penalty in first-half added time gave the National League South side a 1-0 lead over Stevenage of League One and they clung on to it during a fierce rearguard action that lasted most of the second half.
‘Maidstone United, Maidstone the town and Maidstone the community is on the map again,’ the manager said.
‘It’s history. Not just for me, but for the players, the fans, the owners and everyone behind the scenes.’
A year ago, Stevenage, 69 places higher up the league pyramid than their conquerors, were the ones rejoicing after beating Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park. They fought hard to get on level terms in that second half, but paid the penalty for an insipid opening 45. Steve Evans, the Stevenage manager, congratulated the winners but said: ‘We didn’t show them enough respect.’
Maidstone tore into the visitors from the kick-off. Jacob BerkeleyAgyepong shot just wide and Lamar Reynolds forced a save from Stevenage
goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond with a header from a cross by Corne, the man of the match. He tortured the visitors’ defence with a series of crosses and the constant pressure told when referee Stephen Martin awarded a penalty for Louis Thompson’s challenge on Berkeley-Agyepong.
It looked soft but Corne thrashed the ball past Ashby-Hammond.
The second half, though, was a different story. Lucas Covelan, the Stevenage goalkeeper, had hardly been tested but everything changed in the second half. He produced a plunging save to deny Jamie Reid, the Stevenage top scorer, after 51 minutes and then gratefully clutched the ball after Corne had blocked Carl Piergianni’s header from the resulting corner.
It was Covelan to the rescue again when Kane Hemmings broke through with a clear run on goal after 62 minutes. Harvey White and Reid then managed to make a mess of an excellent chance with Covelan out of his ground.
The home goal continued to lead a charmed life. Hemmings somehow failed to score by the post after Reid’s effort had looped over Covelan, hit the bar and bounced down onto the goal line. ‘That is the FA Cup,’ Corne said. ‘You have to ride your luck at times.
‘It was meant to be, clearly. They hit the post, it was [cleared] off the line. We had to believe. We stuck to the game plan, everyone put in a shift and it paid off.’
The crowd cheered themselves hoarse as the seconds ticked by.
‘We thoroughly deserve to be in the fourth round of the FA Cup,’ Elokobi said. ‘I told the players to enjoy every bit of it, but there was one more step and we could cause an upset.
‘We were electric in the first half. In the second they had moments but we were organised behind the ball. You are up against a League One side, and they are going to put you under pressure. I wrote on the board in there “How resilient can we be?” Lucas kept us in the game with those saves and they ran out of ideas.’
FOR THE BEST part of an hour, Preston performed in a manner that suggested Stamford Bridge could be the scene of some FA Cup third-round magic.
Then Chelsea flexed their muscles and quickly killed off that prospect with three goals in 11 tieending minutes, before adding a late fourth.
Chelsea struggled to break down Ryan Lowe’s Championship side. Preston were impressive, Chelsea the opposite.
But the four-goal margin by the end made it an ultimately comfortable win for Chelsea and an ideal start to an important few days in the cup competitions which represent their best chance of success this season and route into Europe, which the club’s hierarchy are expecting.
Here, it was a place in the fourth round up for grabs. On Tuesday it is the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals against another secondtier side, Middlesbrough, and an opportunity to take a giant step towards Wembley.
Eventually, it was one down for Chelsea and Pochettino. The first goal was headed in by Armando Broja, an important deadlock breaking goal for him as well as his club.
The burden for scoring goals, and to prove to Chelsea’s owners they do not need to invest in a new striker, will be on his shoulders for the foreseeable future with Nicolas Jackson away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal. This was a good start.
Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling then put the result beyond doubt before Enzo Fernandez made it 4-0 late on.
This was a big occasion for academy defender Alfie Gilchrist who was handed his first start by Pochettino. Gilchrist’s tenacious style in his two previous cameos off the bench had quickly endeared him to Chelsea supporters. A Cruyff turn to get out of a tight spot and set Chelsea on the attack was another moment to lift he crowd.
Gilchrist traded passes with Raheem Sterling before the England winger saw his shot loop up into the air for Freddie Woodman to grab.
Preston were more than holding their own, even if Chelsea, unsurprisingly, dominated possession.
Will Keane fired in an attempt that was saved by Djordje Petrovic before Sterling extended Woodman again. Fernandez’s inch-perfect chipped pass over Preston’s defence was met by an equally exquisite first touch from Cole Palmer, but he chipped just wide.
Milutin Osmajic then burst through for Preston and forced Petrovic into another save.
Fernandez headed straight at Woodman and Broja had a shot blocked before Preston had the sort of period that encourages visiting, lower league sides in a cup tie.
Possession was being sustained in Chelsea’s half, free-kicks and 50-50 tackles won, and confidence was growing. Pochettino’s face as he stormed down the tunnel before the half-time whistle said it all. The Chelsea manager admitted as much later: ‘The first half I was a little disappointed. We started so sloppy. I told the players at half-time we needed to increase the energy and match that of Preston.’
Initially there was only more frustration after the restart, but just before the hour relief broke out around Stamford Bridge when Broja timed his run to meet Malo Gusto’s cross to perfection and headed it beyond Woodman.
The second goal followed when Palmer’s corner was met by sub Thiago Silva and Woodman could only help his near-post header into the net.
Sterling made it three with a brilliant free-kick. Noni Madueke, Gusto and Conor Gallagher tried, too, before Fernandez tapped in a VAR-approved fourth.
‘The second half was a completely different game,’ Pochettino said. ‘We dominated, created chances and deserved victory. After we increased our level we started to play and deserved to win.’