The Stones bounced back from Saturday’s disappointing defeat at St Albans City with a fairly comfortable victory over basement side Havant & Waterlooville to move back up to 2nd in the National League South.
Gaffer George Elokobi responded to the defeat by making a couple of tweaks to the starting XI including a first start for Leicester City loanee Paul Appiah, Sol Wanjau-Smith coming back as part of a front three and Harry Kyprianou at right wing back.
Despite the freshness to the line up, the Stones actually started the game very slowly with a fair amount of misplaced passes and allowing Havant to dictate the play at times. However, it was Harry Kyprianou that provided the first sight of goal as he looked to take advantage of keeper Ross Worner failing to hold onto the ball by managing to get a shot off from an angle but was drilled wide of the right hand post.
A goal was needed to settle the vast majority of the 1,538 in attendance and thankfully it was provided just past the quarter of an hour mark. Havant failed to deal with a cross towards the 6 yard box and all of a sudden, their defence just stopped which allowed Matt Rush all the time in the world to pick his spot with a well placed header past Worner to opening the scoring.
The goal was received with a quick response from the Hawks as James Roberts was able to volley a low effort on target which Lucas Covolan dealt with really well before Ryan Seager’s follow up clipped the top of the bar before falling into the Stones keeper’s hands.
It was a chance that came back to haunt Steve King’s side as just five minutes later, Levi Amantchi doubled the lead with a superb solo goal. He took the ball towards the by line before showing great feet and balance to weave his way past at least 3 defenders before slotting across Worner from 6 yards out.
Rush was another one that has been in goalscoring mood recently as he was tee’d up by Sol Wanjau-Smith but his low effort from 25 yards out went just wide of the post with Worner at full stretch. Appiah was also keen to get in on the act as he made a brilliant bursting run down the right hand side but didn’t slow down which ended up with him blasting his shot into the town end.
With the visitors having a very tough season on the pitch, they had nothing to lose in the second half and they came out all guns blazing and got their rewards just a few minutes into the second period. Devonte Aransibia lost the ball on the left which allowed Havant to break away. A cross came in from the right which was headed back across goal by substitute Billie Busari for the ex-Dorking and Hungerford man, Seager who nodded in from close range to give the bottom club hope.
It wasn’t far off from being an unlikely comeback just moments later when Keiron Phillips looked to catch Covolan off his line by shooting from the right hand side about 35 yards out but the Brazilian got back in time to make the catch. It was the wake up call Elokobi’s men needed as they looked to settle the game down and get back to basics. Havant were continuing to press and force the issue on the Stones defence.
However, the Stones were able to relax just that little bit more when Sam Corne’s out-swinging corner found the head of Amantchi who was able to nod home for his 20th goal of the season in all competitions.
This allowed us to play with a bit more freedom as we looked to seal the game in style. Having said that, the Hawks came close to making it an awkward last 10 minutes when Phillips made a promising run before looking to strike low across Covolan but the stopper made a very smart fingertip save to preserve parity.
Substitute Liam Sole looked to show what he was all about as he faked his shot on two occasions following a lovely move down the middle but when he did eventually get his shot off, he couldn’t keep the effort down.
Havant’s night was summed up when Jack Jebb’s free kick from 25 yards out struck the outside of the post but it was relief all round for the Stones as they collect another crucial 3 points ahead of a huge FA Cup Second Round tie against League 2 side Barrow, on Saturday.
Maidstone United: Matt Rush 16’, Levi Amantchi 25’, 67’
Havant & Waterlooville: Ryan Seager 48’
Maidstone United: 1. Lucas Covolan, 5. George Fowler, 6. Paul Appiah, 8. Sam Corne (C), 9. Sol Wanjau-Smith (7. Razzaq Coleman De-Graft 64 mins), 11. Devonte Aransibia (16. Liam Sole 52 mins), 14. Harry Kyprianou, 15. Sam Bone, 17. Levi Amantchi (2. Gavin Hoyte (89 mins), 18. Bivesh Gurung, 20. Matt Rush. Subs not used: 4. Reiss Greenidge, 12. Damian Niemczycki.
Havant & Waterlooville: 1. Ross Worner (C), 2. Devante Stanley (14. Harry Jewitt-White 90+6 mins), 3. Kai Innocent, 7. Jake McCarthy, 8. Keiran Phillips, 9. Ryan Seager, 17. Jack Jebb, 18. Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong, 19. Yoan Zouma, 20. Roarie Deacon (11. Billie Busari 45 mins), 21. James Roberts (26. Billy Stedman 77 mins). Subs not used: 31. Jafer Mohammed-Kier.
