Maidstone United 1-3 Faversham Town - This result wasn't really a surprise to me, says Ray Turner

MAIDSTONE UNITED  1-3  FAVERSHAM TOWN
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 25^th February 2012
Mike Green reports from Bourne Park

Their manager may have been the new kid on the block back in August, but now February is about to become March, Ray Turner's Faversham Town served notice that the side the manager has assembled over the past few months is most certainly in the Ryman League to stay.

However, Jay Saunders and his Maidstone United players will be sick of the sight of Turner's new boys, as on this sunny Saturday at Bourne Park, it was Faversham who completed the League double over Saunders play-off chasers.

Three goals in 15 second half minutes sealed the points for the visitors as they followed up their 2-1 win in the reverse fixture before Christmas to deservedly take the points.

Danny Hockton's low drive (his third in the last three games) levelled the scores after Alex Flisher's bobbler had given the home side the lead seven minutes after half time and a first half that had little to enthuse the crowd bathed in glorious early spring sunshine.

Goals from Nicky Humphrey and James Peacock then sealed the points for Turner's side and left the manager beaming, as he said, "It's been a great afternoon. We had a tough January, but now I think we're beginning to see exactly how good a side we've got together now.

“This result wasn't really a surprise to me. The teams had a little bit of a rebuild in January and anyone looking at results will have seen that we might just have turned the corner.

“Those who saw today's game will certainly agree that not only did we dominate for long periods but we also deserved the points.

“Full credit to the whole team as they've bonded really well and I think that we were the better side today.

“First half was a little bit of a battle which probably suited us more as an away side - I don't think they got into their stride too much which of course is what we're trying to restrict. It really is a great away performance today."

Stones boss Saunders however was far from impressed with his sides lacklustre performance.

He bemoaned: "We empathised the importance of set plays before the game as they're a good side - I'd spoken to Neil Cugley (the Folkestone Invicta manager) and he said that they were a good side from set pieces; they're a big side and they try to get the ball forward quickly, and we didn't deal with it. As simple as that, we just didn't deal with it.

“I thought we tried to play some football but nowhere near enough - the one time we got it wide we scored from it. We just didn't get it wide enough – it’s really frustrating!

“We didn't start well - I saw it in the warm up, there was something that wasn't quite right as we have been last couple of weeks, and we did start half decent."

To be fair, the first half wasn't the greatest spectacle, and indeed apart from an early shot from Hockton which flashed wide, whilst at the other end the Stones did have the ball in the net courtesy of Danny Lye, but his effort was chalked off for offside.

Few then would have foreseen what was to happen in the second half - especially after the home side took the lead on 52 minutes.

Flisher did well down the left and burst into the area, only to be denied by the right boot of Dan Ellis in the Faversham goal, but the keeper was left helpless as Baff Addae managed to get the ball back to Flisher who bobbled in his 8th goal of the season from six yards.

It was a goal that the visitors boss wasn't happy with. Turner said, "It was a bit messy from our point of view - we've had a few of these goals where they've gone through people and bobbled back - the keepers made a good block - he's done his job - but the balls gone back out to Flisher who's reacted a bit quicker than we did and the shot has bounced and bobbled through the crowd and into the net. A scrappy old goal to which we needed to react and Maidstone can be a very dominant side if you let them get on top of you. We needed to get a foothold in the game again, which we did."

And how Faversham responded, yet their equaliser initially had a stroke of luck.

Lye was caught in position and the ball ran to Adrian Stone, who's superb angled pass released Hockton behind the Stones defence, and his shot from the edge of the box, fizzed past John Whitehouse in the Stones goal for the first goal that Maidstone had conceded at Bourne Park in two minutes short of six hours – 478 minutes to be precise.

The two managers were equally praise worthy of Hockton's finish, even if they had differing emotions at the time.

A jubilant Turner admitted, "Whatever you say about Danny Hockton, he scores goals! That's what he's done his whole career and today he's got in behind and scored his third in three since the lay off for the snow and I'm now at the stage where I fully expect him to get a goal every time he goes out there - and I think he does!" 
 
Saunders meanwhile was left frustrated by his defence, as he admitted, "When we started and scored second half, I hoped that that would settle us down a little bit and mean that we go on and win the game, but as I say -  their goals - the first one we're on the attack; Lysie plays a ball short and it gets played long and we switch off at the back, and someone like Danny Hockton's not going to miss chances like that.

“I don’t think he had many more than that - and then the next goal was a free header from a corner which is school boy stuff and the final one got switched from the other side and the boys thought the ball was going out and we switched  off yet again! So, if you give people chances like that then of course they're going to take them."
 
And it was a surprise how the Stones seemed to just lose their way from that point on, as the home defence, in the words of their manager, "switched off"!

On 62 minutes, Faversham were in front courtesy of a thumping Humphrey header from a corner, and ten minutes later, when then home side didn't clear a corner properly, Stone clipped the ball back into the box for Peacock to power home a header past the luckless Whitehouse.

A jubilant Turner admitted that he sensed that his side could possibly get something from set pieces.

He said: "We spoke at half time as I thought they were vulnerable all day from long throws, free kicks and we spoke about getting the ball in the right areas and showing a bit of belief about attacking the ball. And Nick Humphrey loves to attack a football and I'm sure that PK (James Peacock) will enjoy his goal as well.

“I thought he was superb today. I don’t tend to single people out but he's been very disciplined in the middle of the park and had a great tussle with Danny Lye and I think he’s had a really good game in there."

Maidstone United:  John Whitehouse, Sam Bewick, Tom Mills, Tommy Osborne, Sam Groombridge, Danny Lye (Jay Saunders 83), Ellis Green (Alex Waugh 68), Karl Murray, Shaun Welford (Sam Hasler 85), Baff Addae, Alex Flisher.
Subs: Ash Greenwood, Marc Powell

Goal: Alex Flisher 52

Booked: Shaun Welford 81

Faversham Town:  Dan Ellis, Ashley Brown, Nathan Simpson, James Peacock, Nicky Humphrey, Matt Bourne, Justin Ascheri (Mobolaji Dawodu 87), Dave Botterill, Adrian Stone, Danny Hockton (Nicky Moir 90), Renford Tenyue.
Subs:  Joe Ainsley, Joshua Sargeant, Daniel Ellett

Goals: Danny Hockton 57, Nicky Humphrey 62, James Peacock 72

Booked: Matt Bourne 81, Adrian Stone 85, Justin Ascheri 87

Attendance: 376
Referee: Mr Matthew Goldsmith (Hastings, East Sussex)
Assistants: Peter Newman (Billericay, Essex) & Mr Graham Horsler (Tilbury, Essex)