Kentish Football 
Maidstone United 1-3 Carshalton Athletic - I‘m confident we can get out of trouble - says Peter Nott
Saturday 02nd October 2010
MAIDSTONE UNITED 1-3 CARSHALTON ATHLETIC
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 2nd October 2010
Paul Parkinson reports from Homelands Stadium
CARSHALTON ATHLETIC came away from The Homelands today with a 3-1 win that keeps them in the Ryman Premier top five and deepens the early relegation problems being faced by Maidstone United.
Having seen his team go from almost saving this match, as Danny Hockton‘s shot crashed off the bar, to being killed off by a counter-attack and Mbive Lokano‘s injury time goal, Maidstone United manager Peter Nott had to admit that “football is cruel and we‘re struggling with that at the moment. I‘m certainly disappointed with the result, the performance wasn‘t one of our best but I can‘t fault the effort.”
The match, which finished in torrential rain, was by no means a classic, but more an indication of how the Stones are going to have to compete.
Speaking afterwards to www.kentishfootball.co.uk, Nott was forthright, saying “I demanded today, that we go out to win tackles. The pitch was a bit greasy and I think some of the bookings were down to that. I‘ve felt for the players today and have been quite vocal in the dressing room, but they came out with the right attitude. But the only way we‘re going to get out of this is to battle and see where we go from there.””
Apart from an early header from Adrian Stone, which flew over Craig Ross‘ bar, the match was a scrappy midfield battle with both teams struggling to gain the upper hand.
This changed with Carshalton‘s first real attack on 28 minutes when Lokando found space in the middle of the Stones‘ half, fed a ball inside Tom Mills, and Joel Ledgister ran onto it to slot home giving Andy Walker no chance.
Maidstone could have hit back immediately when Stone headed over from inside the six-yard box after a Simon Glover cross, but Walker had to be alert to deny Lokando after a good build-up between Ledgister and Byron Harrison.
The home side got back on level terms on 42 minutes, when Tom Parkinson returned Ricardo Joseph‘s poor clearance back into the Carshalton box. The lob fell to Stone, who coolly controlled the ball, then drove across Ross to equalise.
Although Maidstone started the secnd half well, with Ross gathering shots from Tommy Whitnell and substitute Antonio Gonnella, Carshalton went ahead again on 65 minutes, Harrison slotting home from close range after Walker had pulled off a superb save to deny Lokando.
From the restart, the Robins broke again, this time through Chris Henry, who fed in Harrison behind the Stones‘ defence, but Walker kept his side in the game by smothering the ball on the edge of his box.
As the heavens opened, and Maidstone‘s tackling and desire to level became more desperate, a run of cards broke up play.
Walker had to be alert again to stop a Ledgister shot, but as time ticked away, it looked as though parity would be restored when Colin Richmond‘s block fell to Hockton, who connected sweetly and saw his shot cannon back off the underside of the Carshalton bar.
Having committed so many players forward, Stones were caught by a swift counter-attack and Lokando calmly slid the ball past Walker to seal the victory.
Nott reflected: “The result at the end, you know, we‘re so close to a 2-2 draw, but hit the underside of the bar and they go straight down the other end and score.
“Danny‘s had half a session on Thursday night and the only strikers we‘ve got available are out there. Danny had to be on the bench and with the games coming thick and fast, it would have been ideal not to play him. Jake Hobbs wasn‘t having his best game and we switched him for Antonio, but Antonio‘s got a knock and had to come off.
“You know what you‘re going to get with Danny, you‘re chasing the game and he‘s almost got us a point. He had to get across his marker and he‘s hit it too well. The ball‘s hit the bar, bounced down on the line and all we needed was the“Russian Linesman”.”
“I thought Glov‘s had a good game. Tom (Mills) was struggling with a thigh problem, but I thought they looked a threat down that side and Simon‘s stopped that threat.
“But, our options are limited at the moment. We‘ve got half a dozen players out, the likes of Joe Vines, PK (James Peacock), Danny Hockton‘s just coming back from injury, Simon Pettit‘s out for a couple of weeks, and Jermaine Darlington. Mark Corneille‘s another one who hasn‘t appeared at all this season.
“Where we are getting injuries and suspensions, we‘re having to bring in youngsters. We‘ve got some great youngsters at the club, but we‘re asking a hell of a lot from them to dig us out of the mess that we‘re in.
“We haven‘t got the budget to go and sign any more players. I just feel we‘ve got to get over this period, get a few players back and I‘m confident we can get out of the trouble we‘re in.”
Maidstone United: Andy Walker, Ryan Andrews, Tom Mills (Sean Johnson 36), Simon Glover, Peter Hawkins, Tom Parkinson, Jake Hobbs (Antonio Gonnella 57 (Danny Hockton 72)), Colin Richmond, Adrian Stone, Tommy Whitnell, Ant Bodle.
Subs: Joe Goldsmith, Harry Lee.
Goal: Adrian Stone 42
Booked: Ryan Andrews 24, Simon Glover 47, Colin Richmond 51, Sean Johnson 75, Tom Parkinson 78
Carshalton Athletic: Craig Ross, Michael Boatang, Ricardo Joseph, David Ray, Justyn Roberts, Tommy Williams, Mbive Lokando, James Duncan, Joel Ledgister, Byron Harrison, Chris Henry (Anthony Joseph 89).
Subs: David Obaze, Brett Cooper, Lloyd Blackman.
Goals: Joel Ledgister 28, Byron Harrison 65, Mbive Lokando 90
Booked: Joel Ledgister 83
Attendance: 263
Referee: Mr Michael O‘Keefe (Sevenoaks)
Assistants: Mr James Slaney (Brighton, East Sussex) & Mr Mark Tasker (Lewes, East Sussex)
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