STONES ARE THE HISTORY MAKERS
PROUD boss George Elokbi lavished praise on his FA Cup heroes as Maidstone United made history by reaching the fourth round for the first time since reformation in 1992.
Sam Corne’s penalty on the stroke of halftime ensured the Stones defied a 69-place gap between themselves and League One high-flyers Stevenage to become the first National League South club to reach this stage of the competition since Havant & Waterlooville in 2008.
“We set out today to make sure history was made,” Elokobi beamed. “I told the players before they came out to enjoy every bit of it, leave everything on the football pitch, and have no regrets at the end.
“We won the game through respect, through our preparations and the players believed. When you believe in football then you can achieve incredible things.”
Maidstone needed to start well and they looked confident from the outset. Sol Wanjau-Smith fired wide with a deflected effort on 11 minutes after good work from Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong saw him cross into the box.
And from the resulting corner, Corne picked out Lamar Reynolds, who drew a stretching save from Taye Ashby-Hammond.
For Stevenage, it just wasn’t happening. Louis Thompson’s dangerous ball across the six-yard box didn’t quite fall for Reynolds, while Stones keeper Lucas Covolan was forced to block another teasing Thompson centre.
Maidstone, though, finished the half in the ascendency. Thompson brought down Berkeley-Agyepong close to the edge of the box but Corne fired his freekick went well over.
Then, Sam Bone drove a shot from a similar distance which might have been going wide but Taye Ashby-Hammond made sure with a fingertip save.
But just as the half was about to come to a close, Wanjau-Smith went down in the box under a challenge from Thompson. Referee Steve Martin initially played the advantage but when Berkeley-Agyepong also went to ground, he pointed to the spot. Corne took the kick and emphatically fired past Ashby-Hammond into the top left corner of the net, sending the majority of the 4,000-crowd into raptures.
Stevenage boss Steve Evans responded by making a double substitution during the break and Stevenage came out in determined fashion.
Jordan Roberts muscled his way past George Fowler only to be denied by a superb save from Covolan who flung himself towards his near post. And from the resultant corner, substitute Ben Thompson picked out Carl Piergianni but his header was stopped it on the goalline by Corne.
Boro upped the ante again and went close again following a quick counter-attack from a Maidstone free-kick deep in their half. Kane Hemmings beat the offside trap and raced towards goal with only Covolan to beat but the Stones keeper stood firm and made a fabulous save.
Maidstone survived another let off on 74 minutes when Reid’s effort came back off the crossbar and from the rebound, Hemmings hit the post before Fowler hacked clear.
But this was to be Stevenage’s last realy foray as the Stones saw out the game comfortably to register a famous victory.
Stevenage boss Evans was full of praise for the Stones, commenting: “I’ve just been in the [Maidstone] dressing room. I’ve said they’ve been a credit to their football club and themselves and I hope they get ample rewards in the draw, I really do.”