History was made at the Gallagher Stadium as Maidstone United made the fourth round for the first time thanks to a penalty from Sam Corne.

The 69 place gap between the two teams in the league pyramid was never evident in this match as Maidstone competed throughout and the Stones can be proud of such a strong performance.

Maidstone started well although it was Stevenage who had the first shot of the game. Jake Forster-Caskey drilled the ball through a crowd of players and it went wide of the right post. Play then moved to the other end and Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong’s effort from just outside the box also just missed the target.

Good work from Berkeley-Agyepong saw him cross into the box. Sam Corne got a header and Sol Wanju-Smith reacted and his attempt took a deflection as it went wide. From the corner, Corne got a second chance to cross and he picked out Lamar Reyolds who drew a stretching save from Taye Ashby-Hammond.

On 24 minutes, Louis Thompson picked his way into space inside the box. He sent a dangerous ball across the six yard box which Reynolds put out for a throw. Shortly after this, Thompson’s low cross threatened to creep in but Lucas Covolan did well to make the block.

Corne and Reynolds soon combined again . However, this time, Corne’s cross was just too long for Reynolds who was stretching and couldn’t divert his header goalwards.

Maidstone finished the half in the ascendency. Thompson brought down Berkeley-Agyepong close to the edge of the box but Corne’s free-kick went well over. Sam Bone drove a shot from a similar distance which might have been going wide but Taye Ashby-Hammond made sure by getting his finger tips to the ball.

Then with 45 minutes gone, Sol Wanju-Smith went down in the box under a challenge from Thompson. The referee, Mr Martin waved advantage but when Berkeley-Agyepong also fell, he did award the penalty. Corne took the kick and he emphatically fired it into the top left corner of the net.

Seven minutes after the break, Stevenage went close to equalising. 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. From the resultant corner, substitute Ben Thompson picked out Carl Piergianni and his header was going in but Corne stopped it on the line.

Stevenage then broke quickly following a Maidstone free-kick deep in the visitors half. Kane Hemmings beat the offside trap and raced towards goal with only Covolan to beat. Covolan stood firm though and once again, made a fabulous save.

Moments later, Reece Greenidge got into trouble as he tried to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Hemmings found Jamie Reid who gave the ball to substitute Harvey White and from a decent position, he curled wide.

There was then another huge let off for Maidstone on 74 minutes. Reid’s effort came back off the bar and from the rebound, Hemmings hit the post before Fowler hacked the ball away from the line. But this was to be the last time that Stevenage really threatened as the Stones saw out the remainder of the game comfortably to register a famous victory.

Maidstone United: Sam Corne 45 (pen)

Stevenage: –

Maidstone United: 1. Lucas Covolan, 2. Gavin Hoyte, 4. Reece Greenidge, 5. George Fowler, 14. Harry Kyprianou, 17. Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong (11. Paul Appiah 47), 15. Sam Bone, 8. Sam Corne, 16. Liam Sole (3.Chi Ezennolim 66), 9. Sol Wanju-Smith (6. Raphe Brown 79), 10. Lamar Reynolds. Subs not used: 12. Harley Earle, 13. Riley Court, 17. Sam Smith, 19. Perri Iandolo, 20. Conor Kelly.

Stevenage: 1. Taye Ashby-Hammond, 2. Luther Wildin, 5. Carl Piergianni, 6. Dan Sweeney, 8. Jake Forster-Caskey (17. Finley Burns 45), 10. Nick Freeman (7. Alexander MacDonald 79), 11. Jordan Roberts (18. Harvey White 57) 15. Terence Vancooten, 19. Jamie Reid, 23. Louis Thompson (24. Ben Thompson 45), 29. Kane Hemmings (9. Elliott List 79). Subs not used: 41. Rylee Kyran Cain Mitchell, 16. Harry Anderson, 20. Aaron Pressley.