The Stones are through to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup as they edged past Isthmian South East side Herne Bay.
Maidstone enjoyed the best of the first half although they were restricted to a couple of opportunities early on. With five minutes played, Charlie Seaman crossed towards the near post and Shaq Coulthirst headed wide.
Coulthirst then got down the left. He pulled the ball back into the middle where it was met by Sam Corne whose shot deflected behind.
Seaman and Coulthirst were involved again on 27 minutes. Seaman’s cross was met by Coulthirst who perhaps should have got his header on target.
Maidstone then went very close to taking the lead. A fine cross from Ben Brookes picked out the leaping Temi Eweka who saw his header hit the inside of the left post.
Moments later, Jon Benton’s ball into the middle was met by Corne. Corne could only steer his chance straight at Harry Brooks in the Herne Bay goal.
Then on 41 minutes, the home side fell behind in unfortunate circumstances. Seaman clipped the ball forward and there was a mix up between Harry Brooks and Skye Salmon who accidentally headed the ball into the net.
Maidstone controlled the second half and could have added to their tally on a number of occasions. Two minutes after the restart, Seaman got under Ben Brooks’ cross from the left and couldn’t direct his header on target. Then a fine cross from Seaman was met by Temi Eweka. It seemed certain Eweka was going to score but Harry Brooks had other ideas and made an excellent save.
It wasn’t until the 69th minute that the home side called Alexis Andre Jr into action. A free-kick was pumped into the box and it was headed onto Artem Kuchkov who shot straight at Andre Jr.
The flow of the game was interrupted by a number of substitutions and there wasn’t anything to note until the 84th minute. Substitute Aaron Blair was bought down just outside the box on the left. From a tight angle, Seaman curled the free-kick just wide of the far post.
As the game moved into stoppage time at the end of the match, Herne Bay suddenly upped the pressure on the Stones. Substitute Joshua Reid drove towards goal and his rising drive was going in until Andre Jr intervened with a superb save.
Harry Brooks went close in a scramble in the box following a corner from the Bay and with the game in the 7th minute of stoppage time, Herne Bay should have equalised with the last kick of the match. The ball came into Michael Salako who was in a great position and with the goal at his mercy, he shot well wide.
Herne Bay:-
Maidstone United: Skye Salmon 41 (O.G)
Herne Bay: 1. Harry Brooks, 3. Jack Parter, 2. Skye Salmon, 5. Liam Friend, 11. Frankie Smith, 6. Mo Kamara (15. Joel Odenrian 45), 7. Scott Heard (14. Joshua Reid 77), 8. Ethan Smith, 10. Kane Haysman, 9. Michael Salako, 4. Artem Kuchkov (Monty Saunders 84). Subs not used: 13. Carter Wilson, 17. Daniel Carrington, 19. Jack Hillier, 18. Alfie Hill.
Maidstone United:1. Alexis Andre Jr, 2. Temi Eweka, 5.George Fowler, 4. Reiss Greenidge, 11. Charlie Seaman, 6. Antony Papadopoulos (16. Matt Bentley 81), 7. Jordan Higgs (9. Aaron Blair 55), 8. Sam Corne, 3. Ben Brookes, 7. Jon Benton (14. Tayt Trusty 81), 10. Shaq Coulthirst (15. Harry Lodovica 72 (19. Pierre Fonkeu 90)). Subs not used: 13. Lenny Holden, 18. Bivesh Gurung..
