Kentish Football 
Maidstone United 2-0 Herne Bay - I thought we were disapointing today, admits Jay Saunders
Saturday 01st December 2012
MAIDSTONE UNITED 2-0 HERNE BAYRyman League Division One South
Saturday 1st December 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from James Whatman Way
MAIDSTONE UNITED player-manager Jay Saunders says his players had to dig in to defeat an unlucky Herne Bay side to maintain the pressure on leaders Dulwich Hamlet.
The Stones, who tasted their (second and) last league defeat at Worthing on 27 August, stretched their unbeaten run in the league to eleven games after their 2-0 win over Herne Bay, despite playing with ten-men for 34 minutes.
Skipper Shaun Welford was shown a straight red card for his alleged elbow on Herne Bay left-back Tom Bryant, but goals from their two left-sided players, Alex Flisher and full-back Tom Mills inflicted back-to-back defeats for Herne Bay against the top two sides in the Ryman League Division One South.
Both of Maidstone United’s goals were set up by Stuart King, 25, who was making his debut for the club after signing for an undisclosed fee from league rivals Folkestone Invicta on Thursday.
Saunders, who came on for Flisher in the 87th minute, admitted his side didn’t reach the heights they did seven days ago when they defeated full-time Blue Square Bet (Conference) South leaders Salisbury City in the FA Carlsberg Trophy First Round.
“I thought we were disappointing today,” said the central midfielder. “We never really got going. I thought early doors we got into some great positions, didn’t take our chances we had.
“We had the one disallowed for handball, which I thought was a bit harsh, but if that goes in it’s a different game, but the longer it went on I just think, I don’t know, we worked hard, I don’t doubt we worked hard. As I say we didn’t quite click.”
Herne Bay boss Simon Halsey saw his side slip down to three places to eleventh place after this defeat.
He said: “The 2-0 (scoreline) is not a reflection on the game because they scored that in added time I believe because we were pushing for the game. We’ve left ourselves with a skeleton at the back just to try and get something out of the game so 2-0 is not the disappointing fact. I’m just disappointed. Defensively I thought we done alright, it’s just offensively.
“Jay’s congratulated us, like Dulwich, not many teams have come here and had a go at them and we’ve done that.
“We’ve just not had a bit of luck. We’ve hit the post, three cleared off the line and we’re not playing that well in all fairness. We didn’t play that well and that’s honest.
“But two cracking goals from them on the counter attack so fair play to them. Good side, good stadium and everything going in the right direction for them.”
Maidstone United were thwarted by a flag inside the opening nine minutes when trickery from Warren Whitely saw the winger reach the by-line before cutting the ball back to Welford, whose right-footed shot on the turn nestled into the corner of the net but the goal was ruled out.
Herne Bay ventured forward on numerous occasions and right-winger Dean Grant drove a low cross in behind the Stones back-four but a poor first touch from unmarked striker James Turner saw the ball roll wide.
Both keepers then made comfortable low saves within fifteen seconds. Mills took the ball forward for Maidstone before releasing Flisher, whose left-footed angled drive brought a near post save from visiting keeper Dan Eason. Then, within seconds Herne Bay’s winger, Rhys Lawson, cut in from the left and stroked a right-footed shot which bounced into Charlie Mitten’s gloves.
Maidstone United squandered the best chance of the first half in the 20th minute.
Central defender Nick Humphrey clipped a delightful pass from inside the Herne Bay half to release Welford through and after cutting inside and along the penalty area his right-footed drive forced a smart low save out of Eason.
Herne Bay then enjoyed a good spell, which stunned the 1,731 crowd to near silence, as the visitors’ had chances to go into the break in the lead.
Right-back Joe Nelder clipped the ball over the top for James Turner who was forced wider than he had wished for by the bounce but he maintained composure and cut the ball back to Lawson, but his poor left-footed shot from 19-yards bounced into Mitten’s gloves in the 32nd minute.
Mills looped his backpass towards his keeper Mitten, who was challenged by the jumping Byron Walker and the loose ball fell to Turner, who hooked his chip towards goal from the edge of the box, but Nick Humphrey got back to nod the ball off the line.
Maidstone United skipper Welford, meanwhile, had a couple of efforts, one that he drove into the side netting and the other hooking a left-footed shot across goal from 25-yards, which sailed agonisingly wide of the far post.
As the game entered stoppage time, hardworking midfielder Danny Phillips cut the ball back to Tim Olorunda, who was given space to crack a speculative 30-yard drive towards goal with his right-foot, which sailed over.
But Herne Bay went agonisingly close to stunning the vast Maidstone faithful inside the stadium just before the half-time whistle.
Josh Seargent’s diagonal pass was picked up by Lawson, who cut into the penalty area to reach the by-line.
Lawson caressed the ball past Tommy Osborne and the ball deflected off Humphrey at the near post and looped up and clipped the underside of the crossbar and Mitten did brilliantly to claw the ball away at the last minute.
Saunders was full of praise for Mitten by saying, “The save from Charlie, that he’s tipped onto the bar and palmed away. People forget things like that!”
Reflecting on the first half, Halsey admitted: “I wasn’t happy offensively, defensively I thought we were great! Our shape was good. I just didn’t think we done enough with the ball when we was going forward for some reason today but the stats at half-time showed we put more crosses in the box than them – just nothing on the end of it, but there you go, that’s football.
“There was no killer instinct. Charlie (Mitten) held on to them, there were no rebounds, which he did second half. He did let a few fumble out of his hands and we nearly got on the end of them.
“We didn’t have any cutting edge about us today. I’m just disappointed in our retention of the ball. We gave the ball back to them, which put a lot of pressure on us. We’ve just got to improve on our ball retention but we’re still going in the right direction.”
Herne Bay had the first chance of the second half when a move involving Seargent, Bryant and James Turner resulted in Bryant slamming a speculative drive wide from a tight angle inside the Maidstone United box.
The impressive Whitely played the ball in behind Bryant, but King’s angled drive was saved by Eason at his near post.
But Maidstone United were reduced to ten-men in the 56th minute when referee Jim Paterson spotted Welford had elbowed Bryant as a number of players swarmed around the edge of the Maidstone penalty area waiting for a Herne Bay free-kick.
But Herne Bay failed to take advantage as Calum McGeehan clipped the resulting free-kick into Mitten’s gloves.
Both managers agreed that Welford deserved to be sent-off.
Saunders said: “It’s a sending-off! There was a few niggles going on there. There were things happening and to be fair if the ref grabs hold of it when it was happening around the free-kick because all of a sudden they’re all pushing and shoving at the free kick having digs at each other and then it’s broke away and the fella’s pulling at Shaun and he’s elbowed him.
“I’ve just said to Shaun, on another day that costs us three points. He’s lucky that the boys have dug him out.
“He’s been stupid and he knows that and he’s held his hand up in there but I can’t accept things like that because they cost you things over the season. It’s important that he doesn’t do that.”
Halsey added: “Straight red, without a doubt! It was right in front of the dug-out. You couldn’t argue with that. It was a clear one – as was the second one!
Expecting to face an uphill struggle, Maidstone United threw away those fears and they opened the scoring within two minutes of Welford’s red.
A long ball was brought under King’s spell outside of the penalty area and the former Herne Bay striker laid the ball off to Flisher, who smashed a left-footed drive towards goal, which bounced off the diving keeper’s body and looped into the top left-hand corner for his ninth goal of the season.
Saunders said: “We scored two great goals. We’re capable of doing that!
“First half we got in some great positions. Flish did especially. Warren put in some good balls and I though the end product today weren’t quite there. That was frustrating!”
Halsey added: “They go down to ten-men, perhaps we switched off and thought it would be a bit easy for us. We didn’t concentrate for that important time when they’ve gone down to ten men but fair play to Alex, a great strike!”
Maidstone United went close to doubling their lead in the 65th minute when Flisher whipped in a fine low cross from the left and King nipped in front of James Campbell and flicked his shot over Eason’s crossbar.
Mills cracked a speculative left-footed drive from 40-yards which bounced once into Eason’s gloves before Herne Bay suffered from another piece of bad luck in the 68th minute.
Seargent’s corner from the right swung out to substitute Jordan Agbajae and his attempt from fifteen yards looped against the underside of the crossbar.
Whitely was lucky to stay on the pitch when he allegedly stamped on Bryant right in front of the Maidstone dug-out in the 65th minute, which sparked a coming together of around 18 players and uproar from the Herne Bay bench.
Halsey blasted: “Tom’s went for the ball and he’s cleared it up the pitch and their eight blatantly stood on him. He’s got stud marks on his chest to show it!
“The linesman’s flagged, (the referee’s) done nothing about it! I don’t want to see players’ sent off at all but there’s certain things in the game that can’t happen – it happened!
“I’ve asked the referee and he said “they were already down to ten-men,”
Halsey replied, “So what! That means you’ve got to be lenient does it?”
“But there you go, that’s football. I’m not going to harp on about it. They’ve taken the points and fair play to them.”
Saunders added: “I didn’t see the Warren Whitely incident but apparently that was a stamp. You can’t get caught up with things like that. The only reason, sometimes, when players are trying to wind you up it’s because they know you’re getting the better of them. You’ve got to be a bit more sensible than that!”
Mills clipped a ball over the top of the Herne Bay defence in the 75th minute which saw a brave Flisher take a bang on the head from visiting keeper Eason. The pair both jumped up to win the ball some eight-yards from goal, but Flisher got their first and nodded the ball just wide and collided with the keeper.
King almost got on the scoresheet with four minutes remaining when he held off his marker and hit a shot on the turn, which was tipped around the post by the diving Eason.
The board for six minutes went up and Herne Bay went in search for an equaliser that they deserved.
They went agonisingly close to equalising but for a world-class acrobatic goal-line clearance from Gavin Greenfield, who thwarted Campbell’s far post header looping into the net.
Halsey was cursing his luck and said: “It’s just one of those days, no matter what we done it wasn’t going to happen for us so we’ll dust ourselves off and go again.”
But Maidstone United scored a flattering second, with 51:21 minutes on the clock, courtesy of Mills' fourth goal of the season.
The Stones hit Herne Bay on a devastating counter attack and King opted to play the ball inside to Mills, who lashed a left-footed shot over Eason into the top left-hand corner. Another quality finish!
“I’m not worried about the second goal,” said Halsey. “We committed everyone forward, left the skeleton one at the back. It’s either get the draw out of it or lose 2-0. That’s how football goes. I took the decision to put everyone forward and try to get something out of the game.”
Speaking about King’s debut, Saunders said: “I think he had a few good touches. He’s had an hour and half training session with us on Thursday night. He doesn’t know anyone so it was hard for him but I thought he done superb for the second goal. He held it up well, some good touches and a great ball into Millsey. He’ll get better the more he gets to know the boys. We can work on things with him but I thougth overall he done ok. He’ll get better. When Kingy signed he said he wants to play in front of big crowds.”
Saunders said: “It’s a massive three points. Herne Bay came here and had a go. I said to Simon afterwards a lot of teams come here, like Walton Casuals, sit back and don’t want to come forward and to be fair to them they had a go and you’ve got to give them credit for that.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Simon and Hugo (Langton) and the way that they want to do things and to be fair to them they’ve come here and first half they’ve had eight crosses into the box. Not a lot of teams have done that here this season. Most teams go one up front, they’ve gone 4-4-2 and I thought fair play to them. On another day we go and lose that game but we’ve dug deep.
“We were superb last week against Salisbury and it’s not quite happened for us today. I said to them it’s a bigger game than the Salisbury game. It’s important we were all at it and we weren’t really today.
“We could’ve sat back and said we’ll settle for a draw but we stayed with two up front and gone for it and it’s paid off for us.”
Saunders admitted his side disappointed Stones supporters, by saying, “I’ve just said to the lads that first half isn’t good enough for me, other than the opening fifteen minutes when we had a few half chances and Flish had a few good runs and Warren.
“We just really didn’t get going first half. That disappoints me because there’s 1700 supporters here today and we knew we’re so much better than that.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work. Last week we were all on our game and this week we had a few too many off it.”
Saunders added: “I must admit first half we didn’t give them (our fans) their money’s worth, but I thought second half they can’t fault any of the boys’ work-rate but if we don’t have a great game what I say about this team is they’ll give it 100%.
Halsey took stock following his fifteenth league game following their promotion as Kent League champions and said: “We’ve lost two on the trot now against the top two sides so if I put everything into context where we are and where we’ve come from that’s not too bad and hopefully we’ll finish that two game run on Tuesday night at Leatherhead.
“In the last two league games we’ve played the top two sides, put a good account of ourselves in the two games so we just have to push on now.”
When asked about playing in front of their largest crowd since the double header against West Ackland Town in the FA Carlsberg Vase semi-finals last season, Halsey replied, “As much as there was a lot of people here I thought it was quiet. I was expecting a little bit of noise and a bit more atmosphere around the place but there wasn’t. It’s great to have crowds like that. Good luck to them and I hope they go forward and win the league and leave us to scrap for the bits (the four play-off places).
“Will we be one of them? Who knows. We’ve just got to improve a little bit to be one of them. If we finish in the top ten that would be massive for us this season.”
Maidstone United: Charlie Mitten, Tommy Osborne, Tom Mills, Nick Humphrey, Gavin Greenfield, Tim Olorunda, Michael Phillips (Sam Bewick 77), Warren Whitely, Shaun Welford, Stuart King, Alex Flisher (Jay Saunders 87).
Subs: Paul Booth, Kaiyne Woolery, Deren Ibrahim
Goals: Alex Flisher 58, Tom Mills 90
Booked: Tommy Osborne 53, Tom Mills 90, Alex Flisher 90
Sent Off: Shaun Welford 56
Herne Bay: Dan Eason, Joe Nelder, Tom Bryant, Calum McGeehan, James Campbell, Josh Seargent, Dean Grant, Billy Bennett, Byron Walker, James Turner (Jordan Agbajae 65), Rhys Lawson.
Subs: Nathan Eastwood, Michael Turner, Gary Sayer, Tom Parker
Attendance: 1,731
Referee: Mr Jim Paterson (Camberley, Surrey)
Assistants: Mr Andrew Hickman (Northholt, Middlesex) & Mr Steve Hawkes (Aldershot, Hampshire)
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