Faversham Town 0-4 Maidstone United - We can't feel sorry four ourselves, says Ray Turner

FAVERSHAM TOWN  0-4  MAIDSTONE UNITED
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 3^rd November 2012
Paul Parkinson reports from Salters Lane


MAIDSTONE UNITED moved two points clear at the top of the Ryman League Division One South table following their 4-0 win at Faversham Town, who lost their eight-match unbeaten run that had seen them climb the table in October.

In form striker Ian Draycott’s second consecutive double, between goals for Nicky Humphrey and Sam Bewick sealed a seventh straight win for the Stones, a remarkable run that has seen them score three goals or more in each game.

Jay Saunders, the Maidstone manager, was full of praise for his team, saying, “I’m delighted that we’ve come to Faversham, who are on a good run. Ray’s got a good side here and it is a tough place to come – and I think we were superb. I said to the boys that they would have to win their individual battles, which we’ve done, and this year we have that bit of individual quality to beat teams.

“We’ve gone in one-nil, which I thought was deserved, and second half we’ve played some good stuff and scored some good goals. I thought we looked quite solid as a team, not just defensively, and we’ve worked hard all over the pitch to close them down, win second balls, and apart from a couple of punches, in fairness, Deren hasn’t had a lot to do.”

“I’m pleased for Nicky; he’s come back to his old club and scored a good goal. Drakes has scored another couple, and Sam has scored a cracker when but I’m always having a go at him for shooting from too far away. But I thought Drakes goal when he had the passing move with Michael Phillips was superb.

“I was very tempted to go with Ade today, knowing what sort of game it was likely to be, but if players are performing they will keep the shirt. It’s tough on Boothy, getting injured and Drakes banging in goals, but we had the situation at the start of the season when both Ade and Drakes were injured. Ian gives us that option of dropping into holes, he gets on the ball well, and after the Hythe game when he gave the ball away and they scored, I’m over the moon for him.””

For opposite number, Ray Turner, though, he felt his team had been caught up in the occasion, admitting, “The players have done ever so well recently, but full credit to Maidstone, I thought they were the better side on the day. I think the occasion got the better of some players, which is disappointing because they haven’t shown what they have done over the last couple of weeks.

“I’ve said to the players that it is one defeat in nine and they’ve done ever so well so far. It is a bad defeat that we’ve got to take on the chin, but we’ve got to move on and prepare for the next game and put this result behind us.

“Before the game I’d said to the players that they had two weeks to dwell on this result, whatever happened, but all we can do now is train hard, try to regroup and try to go on another run. I think that the squad we are trying to assemble here are more than capable, but they’ve got to start believing in themselves as the league is so tight, and consistency is everything in this league.

“I think their keeper has had a far easier day that he would have expected. We didn’t execute our set-pieces and didn’t work him enough. We didn’t commit enough players forward to affect them in forward areas, and we were a bit too predictable, which played into their hands. Maidstone got the ball wide and committed players forward, and that showed with the goals they scored, and that is something we’ve got to learn to do.””

Both sides had half chances early in the game, with Shaun Welford’s effort dipping over the bar, after a good build-up involving the Stones’ skipper, Ian Draycott and Alex Flisher.

Then in reply, Luke Harvey saw a speculative hook over his shoulder drop wide, having been set up by Dave Botterill’s header

As in recent games, Maidstone hit the front in the first quarter. Flisher’s whipped free-kick from the right drew Faversham keeper Simon Overland off his line, and Nicky Humphrey, the former Faversham skipper, climbed highest to head into the unguarded net for his second goal of the season.

Aiden Sherlock had a goalbound effort blocked by Harvey, as Faversham relied on clipping balls beyond the Maidstone back-four, with Harvey as a willing runner, but as the visitors’ midfield started to take control, chances became few and far between.

Welford had Maidstone’s best chance of the half, picking up a poor James Peacock clearance on the edge of the box, but his right foot volley was screwed horribly wide.

The first ten minutes of the second half saw Adrian Stone’s introduction provide Faversham with a more direct threat. Deren Ibrahim, recalled for the suspended Charlie Mitten, was called on twice to punch clear Wayne Wilson corners, and Peacock saw two headers fly well over from long throws that Aaron Lacy had hurled into the Stones area.

As in the first half though, Maidstone’s midfield gradually took control of the game, and Alex Flisher had two good chances either side of the hour mark.

First, Danny Lye’s reverse ball found Sam Bewick, whose curling left foot cross cannoned back off the face of the bar to Flisher, who fired a left foot volley across the face of goal. Then, Flisher exchanged a one-two with Tommy Osborne, cut inside from the right and flashed another shot across the face.

Sherlock saw a 25-yard effort bounce awkwardly in front of Ibrahim, but the visiting keeper gathered the ball well, before Maidstone virtually sealed the game through two Draycott strikes.

First, from good build-up play involving Tom Mills passing the ball into Flisher and via Michael Phillips onto Draycott, the former Lewes striker took his tally to eight for the season with an effort from outside the box that deflected off Matt Bourne and looped over Overland into the corner of the net.

Welford fired a half chance at Overland having been laid in by Draycott, who became more influential as the half progressed, and Draycott himself got onto the end of a slick passing move with nine minutes left to make it three.

Osborne threw the ball in from the right touchline to the feet of Welford, who slid it inside to Draycott. The forward laid in Michael Phillips, who drove into the area past Peacock, and squared the ball across for Draycott, who had continued his run, to tap in from six yards.

As Faversham pushed forward looking for a consolation, Maidstone broke quickly from a Lacy throw, and Ade Olorunda and Draycott combined to set up a chance for Flisher, that the winger could only stab at Overland from the edge of the box.

Bewick completed the scoring in stoppage time, as a poor clearance dropped to Mills. The left-back passed inside to Bewick who, unchallenged, fired in a 30-yard effort that cruelly bounced over Overland’s despairing dive.

With Faversham’s largest gate of the season having been in attendance, admittedly swelled by about 400 visiting fans, Turner recognised the pressures being faced by Jay Saunders, as the league starts to level out following the disruption by cup competitions.

He said: “Yes, Maidstone have got great resources, but I fully expect them to get out of this league; certainly on today’s performance. They are very strong, throughout their squad, so full credit to Jay and his team today.”

“The fixtures aren’t ideal as we’ve gone from playing eight games in a month to only three this month. It’s alright people saying we’ve done well, but before today you could look at it that we were only nine points off the bottom, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves; we’ve got to perform.””

Saunders, comparing his side’s current run with last season, added:  “I remember we came here twelve months ago, I think fifteen unbeaten and having won the Manager of the Month award, and we lost, then went on a five game losing streak that knocked us back.

“When we had the long unbeaten run last season people were saying that we hadn’t played any of the top teams, not played Kent derbies, but people can’t say that this year. We went to Eastbourne, they were flying, Merstham, who were flying, come here today to a side unbeaten in eight, and now Crawley Down on Tuesday.

“I’m sure at some stage the run will end, but until then we’ll keep going a game at a time. This morning I said I’d like six points from the next two games, and now we’re half way there.”

“That night, looking back on the team, I didn’t have options, but now when you look at the bench, we’ve got the likes of Ade, Boothy who we can call on, I don’t mind having those problems. We’ll have Tim (Olorunda) back for Tuesday, but today Danny Lye has come in, and I thought was man-of-the-match. He’s persevered with it, never missed a session, is always early for training and his attitude has been first-class. Sometimes you have to wait your turn and take the chance when it arrives. I think we’ve now got lads who want to win games, and you want to keep winning the next one. I’ve said to them that on Tuesday, we’ll got there full of confidence, prepare as we’ve done for this game, and look to keep the winning run going.”

Faversham Town:  Simon Overland, Aaron Lacy, Jamie Maxted, James Peacock, Matt Bourne, Aidan Sherlock, Dan Lawrence (Renford Tenyue 75), Wayne Wilson, Darren Marsden (Adrian Stone 46), Luke Harvey, David Botterill (Danny Hockton 75).
Subs: Ashley Brown, Dan Ellis

Booked: Aaron Lacy 39

Maidstone United:  Deren Ibrahim, Tommy Osborne, Tom Mills, Nicky Humphrey, Graeme Andrews, Danny Lye, Michael Phillips (Kaiyne Woolery 87), Sam Bewick, Shaun Welford (Ade Olorunda 84), Ian Draycott, Alex Flisher.
Subs: Ryan Cooper, Paul Booth, Zac Foster-Crouch

Goals: Nicky Humphrey 17, Ian Draycott 69, 81, Sam Bewick 90

Attendance: 615
Referee: Mr Paul Howard (London SE13)
Assistants: Mr Mathew Hopton (Sothwark, London SE1) and Mr Ian Searle (Herne Bay)