Its now a highly impressive 18 matches unbeaten for the Stones as a Shaquile Coulthirst hat-trick, inside 13 minutes after he had come on as a substitute saw Maidstone thrash Enfield Town. The Stones also kept another clean sheet as they kept up the pressure at the top of the table.
The Stones started brightly, winning a throw deep inside Enfield’s half on both sides. From the one on the right, Charlie Seaman hurled the ball into the area where it dropped to George Fowler whose curling effort went just over the bar.
Aaron Blair then did well to spin free in the box. He put an enticing delivery into the middle where it was cleared. Then Sam Corne passed to Sol Wanju-Smith who played the ball to Ben Brookes. Brookes opted for a first time cross which reached Fowler and his low shot was pushed wide by Rhys Forester in the Enfield goal.
Seaman curled the ball out to Brookes on the left who headed the ball to Wanju-Smith and he moved it onto Sam Corne. Corne’s cross was dived on by Forester as Temi Eweka waited to pounce.
Maidstone kept on pressing and Fowler found Blair. As Blair’s low ball came into the box, Wanju-Smith went down and Corne fired over.
On 31 minutes, Seaman passed to Brookes who gave the ball to Corne. Corne’s cross was met by Fowler and his headed landed on the roof of the net.
But four minutes later, the Stones did score. A free-kick from Brookes from close to the area and near the touchline appeared to be handled by Bayley Brown. Brookes assumed responsibility for the penalty, and he stroked it into the left side of the net.
Going behind galvanised Enfield and they went close to getting a quick equaliser. Joe Payne crossed for Sam Youngs and Alexis Andre Jr did well to push his header from close range over the bar. From the resultant corner, Payne picked out the unmarked Henry Hawkins whose header went well wide.
The Stones continued to look the stronger of the two sides after the break. Eweka played the ball across to Blair who laid it back to Tait Trusty. Trusty’s driven effort might have been flicked on by Wanju-Smith as it went wide.
Then on 58 minutes, Wanju-Smith found Blair who played in Seaman. Seaman’s first touch was a bit heavy and Forester was off his line quickly to make a decent block. Unfortunately for Wanju-Smith this was to be his last meaningful involvement of the afternoon as he had to be substituted after a length stoppage, with his arm in his shirt as a makeshift sling.
Enfield caused the Maidstone defence issues on 76 minutes. After Reece Greenidge had made a vital block, the visitors kept the move alive. Payne picked out Mickey Parcell who was in a good position but his shot went well off target.
The Stones quickly made Enfield pay for this. Four minutes later, Blair once again did well by racing forwards and he pulled it back to substitute Shaquile Couthirst who riffled the ball into the net.
Then on 85 minutes, Coulthirst got his second. Once again, Blair was involved as this time, he slipped the ball into Coulthirst and with Forester well off this line, Coulthirst drilled a nice shot into the net. And in stoppage time, Coulthirst completed his hat-trick. Forester couldn’t hold substitute Riley Court’s drive and Coulthirst reacted quickly to score with a cute finish.
Maidstone United: Ben Brookes 34 (pen), Coulthirst 80, 85, 90
Enfield Town: –
Maidstone United:1. Alexis Andre Jr, 5. George Fowler, 2. Temi Eweka, 4. Reece Greenidge, 3. Ben Brookes, 7. Jordan Higgs, 8. Sam Corne (6. Raphe Brown 88), 14. Tayt Trusty (18. Bivesh Gurung 77), 15. Sol Wanju-Smith (10. Shaquile Coulthirst 63), 11. Charlie Seaman (17. Riley Court 88), 9. Aaron Blair. Subs not used: 13. Lenny Holden.
Enfield Town: 1. Rhys Forester, 5. Xavier Benjamin, 19. Adam Thompson, 16. Henry Hawkins (17. Dylan Adjei-Hersey 89), 12. Billy Leonard, 20. Mickey Parcell, 6. Jack Smooth (9. Anoited Chukwu 71), 14. Bayley Brown, 3. Joe Payne, 8. Sam Youngs, 11. Amaru Kaunda. Subs not used: 10. Jake Hutchinson, 15. Reece Beckles-Richards, 18. Jay Lambert.
