The Stones fell to defeat in their second pre-season fixture of the campaign as they were this time on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline by Isthmian League South East Division side Sittingbourne.

With it still being early days in the campaign, George Elokobi has been trying different combinations with players as well as mixing in a few of the trialists to see if they fit into the system we want to go with in the National League South.

It got off to the worst possible start when the Stones failed to clear a low corner which was eventually bundled in with just over 90 seconds on the clock. However, the Stones did nearly hit back almost instantly when Aaron Blair got the beating on the Brickies defence before looking to lob Harley Earle but his effort didn’t quite have enough power to take it over the line as it was cleared by the defender.

17 minutes on the clock and the Stones did manage to find their equaliser when Trialist C showed tricky footwork to beat his man before slotting across Earle into the far corner to bring us level.

Just shy of the half hour mark, Sittingbourne had the chance to go back ahead when Harry Kyprianou was adjudged to have nudged the striker in the back which resulted in a penalty. Trialist A stepped up to the task to make a save to his left and keep it level going into the break.

With a pretty much different XI in the second half, it was always going to bring it’s challenges and the Stones fell behind again just 9 minutes in when yet again the defence failed to deal with a low corner which allowed the forward to lash an effort into the roof of the net.

It was to get much more difficult as a low cross from the right caused Raphe Brown a few issues as he slid the ball into his own net, sneaking it in at the near post which extended the Brickies lead.

Despite some positive moves from a few of the Stones youngsters, they were undone by a stunning free kick from 25 yards out which sailed into the top left hand corner which completed a good night for the 8th tier side.

Maidstone United (First Half): 1. Trialist A, 2. Temi Ekewa, 5. George Fowler, 7. Jordan Higgs, 9. Aaron Blair, 11. Charlie Seaman, 14. Harry Kyprianou, 17. Tyler Hatton, 18. Bivesh Gurung, 19. Trialist B, 20. Trialist C. Subs: 10. Trialist, 6. AJ Clark, 8. Elliott Wenham.

Maidstone United (Second Half): 1. Trialist A, 3. Tyler Jackson-Hunt, 4. Reiss Greenidge, 6. Raphe Brown, 8. Sam Corne, 10. Trialist D, 14. Arj Krasniqi, 16. Matt Bentley, 17. Riley Court, 19. Pierre Fonkeu, 20. Tyler Hatton. Subs: 10. Trialist, 6. AJ Clark, 8. Elliott Wenham.