Maidstone United 2-2 Worthing - We have to improve, says frustrated Stones boss Jay Saunders

MAIDSTONE UNITED  2-2  WORTHING
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 22^nd December 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from James Whatman Way

MAIDSTONE UNITED boss Jay Saunders says his club benefited by having a 3G artificial pitch when all but two games here in Kent were washed out on the last Saturday before Christmas.
 


A crowd of 1,765 flocked through the turnstiles to watch Maidstone United come back from being two goals behind to grab a point against Worthing.

This was the only game that went ahead in the entire Ryman Football League and Cray Valley (Paper Mills) came away from leaders Erith Town with an impressive 4-0 win in the Kent Hurlimann Football League.

The debate will continue whether more non-league football clubs should install artificial pitches at their grounds – this one at Maidstone United cost £600,000.

“I think so,” said Saunders. “You look at how many games have been off already and we’ve not had any snow yet!

“It just shows you the benefits of it.  I come down here every night of the week nearly and there’s people using it.  It just makes sense at this level and above, if you look at the likes of Wycombe and a few other clubs in the league, I just think it benefits everyone.”

Saunders added: “It’s a big investment for a club.  I think it was probably a sensible idea for Maidstone because they were having a new ground built.  I can imagine why teams at an old stadium sort of ripping it (a grass pitch) up and putting it (a 3G surface) all down. It’s a big expense for them but in the long run it makes sense.”

Erith & Belvedere’s manager Micky Collins, whose Kent League game away to Woodstock Sports was the first to go this morning, asked, “With not many games on today due to the weather, should the FA fund 3G pitches for all non-league clubs?  If it was on a loan basis, would it improve standards?”

Worthing, who defeated the Stones at Woodside Road back in August and have won seven of their nine away league games, certainly relished playing on the carpet and found themselves 2-0 up courtesy of an own goal (Alex Brown) and a very close range finish from Matt Daniel – two goals that were gifted to them by the Ryman League Division One South leaders.

But Maidstone United hauled themselves back into the game, courtesy of striker Stuart King and substitute Ade Olorunda scoring in the final 21 minutes.

Saunders blamed tiredness: “I thought we looked leggy. We didn’t really get going. I thought we were just a yard off it today.

“We’ve gone 4-4-2 at home and they’ve come here with the one up top and I thought when they lost the ball what they did was get everybody behind it and when they got the ball they broke well.

“We let in two sloppy goals.  The first one from a corner, far post, tapped back across and it’s an easy goal for them and as soon as you do that, you’re up against it and the second goal as well should have been dealt with and then we’ve thrown caution to the wind and got ourselves a point.”

Worthing opened the scoring, with only two minutes and 46 seconds on the clock, after forcing three corners on the bounce.

Chris O’Flaherty whipped in a corner with his left foot from the right towards the far post and Luke Gedling steered the ball into the six-yard box with a low left-footed drive and Alex Brown sliced the ball into his own net.

“It’s three corners on the trot. I think we missed Nick Humphrey today. He’s a bit of a leader back there and a voice and we missed him on set-pieces. The same with Shaun Welford defending set-pieces and I don’t think people realise how many headers he wins. 

“That’s just organisation at the end of the day.  The fella at the far post has pulled free and he’s allowed to play it back across the box. As soon as you do pull ball’s back across in that area anything can happen. 

“It’s disappointing. It’s a crap start to be down after three minutes. It is gutting.”  

Brown, who is currently on loan from League Two side Gillingham, scored Maidstone United’s only goal in their heartbreaking FA Carlsberg Trophy Second Round defeat at Halifax Town on Tuesday night and Saunders admitted the long trip up north has taken its toll on his side.

The Rebels’ squandered a gilt-edged chance to double their lead from another set-piece in the sixteenth minute.

Scott Kirkwood whipped in a free-kick towards the edge of the six-yard box and lone-striker Jamie Brotherton glanced his free header agonisingly wide of the far post.

Saunders added: “I said to the boys’ at half-time, how many free headers do we get in other people’s boxes? It never happens!  Nick Humphrey is an organiser back there and I think today we missed that and other people have got to step up to the plate and get us organised.  It’s basics.  You know your man, you stick to him and we haven’t done that. We could have been 2-0 down!”

Maidstone United’s first chance of the game arrived in the 18^th minute when Gedling gave the ball away and Warren Whitely cracked a right-footed drive from 30-yards, which forced visiting keeper Jamie Banasco-Zaragoza into diving full length to his right to push away.

Worthing almost raced into a 3-0 lead when Tom Lawley slipped the ball through to Kirkwood who was denied by an excellent well-timed sliding tackle from Tom Mills inside the box and captain Tommy Osborne mopped up the danger.

Worthing’s keeper was almost embarrassed when he came rushing out of his penalty area to head away Tim Olorunda’s hopeful punt up field and sweep the ball away.  With groans of “shoot” coming from the home fans, Brown opted to play the ball inside to Tim Olorunda, whose speculative right-footed drive from 40-yards was caught by the Worthing keeper inside his box.

Tim Olorunda sent Whiteley in behind Worthing’s left-back Nat Hubert and his wicked powerfully struck cross-come-shot curled narrowly across the diving keeper.

Tim Olorunda’s speculative left-footed drive from 30-yards sailed over the Worthing crossbar before Banasco-Zaragoze fumbled Whiteley’s cross at his near post and gathered at the second attempt.

Saunders revealed he read his squad the riot act during the half-time interval and demanded a better performance during the second half in the rain.

He said: “It weren’t good enough!  I know we’ve had a long trip Tuesday night and it took a lot out of a lot of people. When we came in for training on Thursday we had ten players’ in the treatment room, who were all struggling, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse.

“We’ve got a big squad. There were people today who were 30-40% off of it and you can’t have that!

“I just told them a few home truths. I said we need more out of them.  To be fair we still didn’t start great second half.  It wasn’t until we changed our shape when we probably caused them more problems.”

Worthing squandered a decent chance inside the opening two minutes when Kirkwood whipped in a cross from the right and it curled out to the unmarked O’Flaherty, who drilled his left-footed shot wide of the near post by some distance.

Saunders bemoaned his side’s defending as they gifted Worthing a second goal in the 55^th minute.

O’Flaherty whipped in a cross from the left which sailed over Deren Ibrahim’s head and should have been headed away by Mills – instead the Maidstone United left-back hooked the ball towards his own goal, which Ibrahim did well to tip onto the underside of the crossbar and Daniel poked the ball in to the net from on the line.

“Millsy knows he should have headed it because he’s tried to hook it with his left-foot but he knows he should have headed it.  He’s just held his hands up in there,” said Saunders.

“Alright, they’ve had chances today but if we defended those chances properly all off a sudden you’re in a game but you can’t give people two goals.”

Right-back Osborne almost scored a very rare goal within two minutes when he was given time and space to drive a right-footed shot from 25-yards through the crowd of players and Banasco-Zaragoze dived to his left to block and kicked the ball behind for a corner whilst on his backside.

A key moment in the game, however, arrived in the 65^th minute, when Worthing squandered another chance to wrap up the game.

Lawley and Brotherton linked up well down the right and Lawton teed up the untracked O’Flaherty, but the left-winger was denied by Ibrahim, who came off his line and blocked the shot with his body, the ball looping over the bar.

Maidstone United were left cursing their luck when Ibrahim’s long ball forward was flicked on by substitute Ade Olorunda and the ball dropped to Whiteley on the right, who gave Hubert problems down the line before whipping in a precise cross towards the near post, which Ade Olorunda powered his header agonisingly over from four-yards.

Saunders added: “Once we went with three (up front) we started to get a bit more joy.  Give them credit they broke well when they had to but we’ve given them a 2-0 head start.”

The Stones went route one again, but this time they pulled a goal back when striker Stuart King scored his nineteenth-goal of the season (seventeen of them were for rivals Folkestone Invicta) in the 69^th minute.

Osborne clipped the ball from inside his own half over the top of a flat-footed Worthing back four and King brought the ball under his spell before caressing a left-footed half-volley over the keeper’s head and the ball dropped into the empty goal.

“I think he was frustrated today,” Saunders said.  “It’s taken him a little while to get used to things, get used to the pitch.  It’s a bit different to what he’s used to playing on. He was frustrated. I know he can do better and he knows he could do better but if you give him half a chance he will score goals.”

The goal raised the volume inside the stadium and Saunders urges the home support to give his side that passion straight from the first whistle.

Saunders said: “Keep getting behind the boys’.  I know it’s frustrating at times, like 2-0 down but the noise they made once we score one and that second, if they can be like that from the first five to ten minutes they don’t realise how much it helps the boys. 

“Hopefully they will keep getting behind the boys’.  We’ll hopefully put on better performances.”

Worthing missed another two decent headed chances to put the game beyond the Stones’ reach, but Daniel planted his header over and Steve Metcalf glanced his header just wide of the far post.

However, Worthing were made to pay, as Maidstone United grabbed an equaliser with four minutes remaining, courtesy of a clever corner routine, involving two of their substitutes.

Ian Draycott cut a low corner into a crowded penalty area and the ball fell nicely for fellow substitute Ade Olorunda who stroked a shot high over a crowd of players and into the roof of the net from ten-yards to score his fourth goal for the club.

“I thought Dracs and Ade made a difference when they came on,” said Saunders.

“Ade’s a handful.  He probably would have started today if he hadn’t been ill. He’s had a sickness bug and didn’t get out of bed until Thursday but he made a difference when he came on and I’m pleased he’s got a goal.

“Dracs offers you something different. He’s come on and did a few clever things. The corner, a few reserve passes.  It shows the quality that we have got to come on. It makes a difference.”

But half-time substitute, influential winger, Alex Flisher only lasted 37 minutes after pulling up with a hamstring and carried on playing.

Saunders said: “He just felt it slightly.  I didn’t think he was going to be right.  He had a fitness test and he felt fine and he felt a slight twinge and we couldn’t risk it.  I’m a bit disappointed really.  I should have left him out again but he’s a big player for us and he felt good enough and didn’t feel any problems so we took a chance. It just goes to show you maybe we shouldn’t.”

King missed a couple of chances inside injury time to snatch victory for the Kent side.

Osborne and Booth combined and King cut in and stroked a left-footed drive from 30-yards, which forced Banasco-Zaragoza into diving to his left to collect at the second attempt.

And the former  Folkestone Invicta striker ran away holding his head in his hands after his left-footed shot on the turn from 20-yards flashed agonisingly wide of the foot of the post at the death.

“Alright, we’ve not played brilliantly but if we didn’t let in two sloppy goals we could have gone on and won that game,” said Saunders.

“It’s frustrating for me.  This year our defensive record is the best in the league.  Today we’ve just gifted them two gaols and I hate conceding from set-pieces.  It is my pet hate.  Luckily as the season’s gone on we haven’t done but I can’t accept things like that but it’s happened and we’ve got something out of it.

“I think that’s fourteen unbeaten and we’ve got to turn up at Ramsgate (on Boxing Day) and make sure we’re better.”

Maidstone United are now two points clear (with a game in hand) on Dulwich Hamlet, with 39 points from 17 games going into the vital Christmas period and Saunders revealed his side will not train before their Boxing Day trip to Ramsgate.

Saunders said: “I just think it would have been a bigger three points today. Looking at it it’s two points lost really.  Had we been on our game today that game was winnable. It would have been great to play in front of a big crowd like that and come away with three points.

“We’re top of the league, we’ve got a game or two in hand. We’ve just got to keep it going really.  We have to improve.  I think the last two or three games – other from Halifax – we’ve not been quite at it.

“There’s a few carrying knocks and we few tired.  A few days’ off will do them good and hopefully we’ll get a few of them back.”

Maidstone United:  Deren Ibrahim, Tommy Osborne, Tom Mills, Gavin Greenfield (Ade Olorunda 60), Graeme Andrews, Tim Olorunda, Kaiyne Woolery (Alex Flisher 46, Ian Draycott 82), Alex Brown, Stuart King, Paul Booth, Warren Whitely.
Subs: Michael Phillips, Danny Lye

Goals:  Stuart King 69, Ade Olorunda 86

Booked:  Tim Olorunda 90

Worthing:  Jamie Banasco-Zaragoza, Steve Metcalf, Nat Hubert, Matt Hurley, Josh Bryant, Luke Gedling (Kiernan Pamment 90), Tom Lawley, Matt Daniel (Charlie Romain 78), Jamie Brotherton, Scott Kirkwood, Chris O’Flaherty (Paul Mancktelow 68).
Sub: Tom Stillwell

Goals:  Alex Brown 3 (own goal), Matt Daniel 55

Booked:  Tom Lawley 76, Scott Kirkwood 90

Attendance: 1,765
Referee: Mr Tom Ellams (Tadworth Surrey)
Assistants: Mr Aji Ajibola (Erith) & Mr Alex Stacchini (Orpington)