The Stones were held to a goalless draw at Chelmsford City on a blustery Monday night in Essex which sees them drop two valuable points in their promotion push.
Following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Worthing and with it being our second game in three days, George Elokobi freshened up the side making four changes including giving first starts to new signings Baylin Johnson and Ricardo German.
With the Clarets having the wind in their favour first half, the Stones had to be resolute defensively as a lot of crosses and long balls were aimed towards Alexis Andre Jr’s goal. However, for large parts, the backline dealt with their threats really well with their only real chance coming after 10 minutes when experienced forward Jake Hyde unleashed a shot from 25 yards out which was parried away by Andre Jr and the Stones were able to clear the danger after.
In a game of very little quality, Aaron Blair showed good footwork to nutmeg his man before setting himself for the shot from a similar range that was hit by Hyde by could only drag the effort well wide of Ted Collins’ goal.
The game did start to turn in Maidstone’s favour when Chelmsford were reduced to 10 men, 5 minutes before the interval. In a tussle between Temi Eweka and Jordan Greenidge, both had pulled each other down in the corner but Greenidge reacted by kicking out at Eweka’s face which left referee Tom Ellsmore no choice but to send Clarets’ centre forward off.
With the advantage now with the Stones in the second half, the vast majority of the 771 in attendance would have expected the Stones to go on and claim the three points. Despite a bright start to the second period with Maidstone in total domination of possession, they struggled to find that quality in the final third to break Chelmsford down which became a regular occurrence in the second half.
Ben Brookes offered some danger to his former side when at the second bite of the cherry from his corner, he delivered a second ball with the outside of his left boot, causing Collins a lot of problems and with George Fowler challenging him, it could have created an opening but the keeper stood tall and got to the ball first by punching away from the danger.
Fowler was involved again mid-way through the second half when he looked to put a cross in across the 6 yard box which forced Collins to tip wide and deny any Stones forward getting on the end of it.
On a couple of occasions, the Stones were left to a good shooting range on the edge of the box from corners but every time it reached the edge of the box, the efforts could not be kept down, adding a bit more frustration to the evening’s proceedings.
Having pushed for a late winner, it was a game that had 0-0 written all over it for large parts but another clean sheet in the bag for the Stones would have pleased Elokobi but he knows that improvements have to be made ahead of the visit of Torquay United to The Gallagher on Saturday.
Chelmsford City: 1. Ted Collins, 4. Archie Tamplin, 5. Joe Rye, 6. Harry Barbrook, 7. Ryan Blackman (15. Arthur Penney 80 mins), 9. Jake Hyde (10. Kane Crichlow 71 mins), 16. Charlie Ruff (C) (25. Jacob Bland 84 mins), 17. Sam Oguntayo (26. Frankie Edwards 75 mins), 20. Jazzi Barnum-Bobb (18. Finlay Wilkinson 46 mins), 31. Jordan Greenidge, 32. Paul Appiah.
Maidstone United: 1. Alexis Andre Jr, 2. Temi Eweka, 3. Ben Brookes, 4. Reiss Greenidge, 5. George Fowler, 7. Jordan Higgs (C), 9. Aaron Blair, 11. Charlie Seaman (6. Raphe Brown 90+5 mins), 16. Baylin Johnson (10. Shaq Coulthirst 70 mins), 18. Bivesh Gurung (14. Tayt Trusty 90+3 mins), 20. Ricardo German (15. Sol Wanjau-Smith 66 mins). Subs not used: 13. Lenny
