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Maidstone United’s excellent recent run of form
continues as they overcame Step Five opposition in the
form of Harefield United in the FA Cup.
This was far from a classic performance from United
but apart from a spell early on in the second half they
were rarely troubled by the home side and they can now
look forward to the draw for the next round on Monday.
Chances were few and far between in the first half
but on 15 minutes, Nathan Paul lifted the ball over
the bar with a shot from close to the edge of the area
before Richard Ageymang went close for the home side
with an effort that flew across the goal before just
going over.
As the game moved towards the break, The Stones began
to gain the upper hand and on 43 minutes Ashley Ulph
delivered a tempting cross which drew Carl Tasker from
his goal and Jay Saunders’ glancing header only
just missed the goal.
But the deadlock was broken on 45 minutes with a nicely
worked goal from The Stones. A corner from Nick Barnes
came back out to the left hand side and Saunders and
James Pinnock exchanged possession before Saunders drilled
the ball across the six yard box and following a goalmouth
scramble, Roland Edge side footed the ball in from close
range.
The second half was a much improved affair and the
home side posed Maidstone a few problems. On 48 minutes
Craig Totten crossed for the unmarked Ageymang whose
header just missed the angle of the post and bar and
then at the other end, Nick Barnes picked out Pinnock
but from a tight position, he could not find the net.
Then on 57 minutes, Adam Willis’ corner was
played back out to him by Totten and Willis’ cross-shot
looked destined for the top right hand side of the net
until Jamie Turner intervened with a good save to palm
the ball away.
By now Harefield were enjoying their best spell of
the game and Jamie Houliston should have done better
when he was unmarked inside the Maidstone area but with
only Turner to beat, he headed straight at The Stones’
keeper.
Just after the hour, substitute Jimmy Bottle’s
cross came towards Pinnock and his volley cleared the
bar and then the Maidstone striker went close again
on 70 minutes when he cut inside only for his shot to
deflect over.
But it wasn’t until three minutes from time
that The Stones made sure of their place in the next
round when Bottle pulled the goal back into the middle
of the area and Pinnock got enough on the ball to send
it past the stranded Tasker.
With Harefield pushing forward at every opportunity
as they looked for a quick way back into the game, Maidstone
then had a couple more chances late on but Tasker made
a good save to deny Saunders and then four minutes into
stoppage time, Barnes’ drive across goal just
missed the far post.
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