Turner wants a glamorous Trophy trip

Sunday 22nd November 2009

GOALKEEPER Jamie Turner says Maidstone United’s chairman Paul Bowden-Brown deserves to be rewarded with a glamorous away tie in the first round of the FA Carlsberg Trophy next month, writes Stephen McCartney.

The cash-strapped club produced a shock result as Shannon O’Donnovan’s 14th minute strike was enough to dump Blue Square South Bromley out of the competition at Hayes Lane yesterday.

Nick Barnes played an excellent pass to James Pinnock who crossed into the box. The ball went beyond O’Donnovan but he was given time to retrieve it and his cross-shot sailed into the far side of the net.

The Stones join fellow Kent sides Dover Athletic, Welling United and Ebbsfleet United in tomorrow’s first round draw and Turner wants a lucrative tie away from home on 12th December.

The giant keeper was watching today’s third qualifying round tie between Welling United and Tonbridge Angels, which the Wings won 3-2, and after watching his two former sides play, agreed to an interview with www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

He was obviously pleased with keeping a clean sheet at Bromley yesterday and can now look forward to tomorrow’s eagerly waited draw as he looks forward to the club’s first match at this stage of the competition for the first time since reforming.

“It was a great result, obviously with them being from the league above,” said Turner.

“You just go there and you just try and keep it tight and hope for a result and to be fair we got one.

“We played really well, every single one of us played really, really well and I think we deserved the victory.”

Looking forward to the draw, Turner added, “I would like Oxford or Luton away, that would do! I spoke to a few of the fans and they’re in the same boat. They just want a big team away just for a good day out for them and obviously you can’t get bigger than Cambridge, Oxford and Luton at the moment.

“Oxford had five or six thousand fans and it’s a great stadium and it would be good for them (fans) and obviously the chairman wouldn’t mind that either. It would be a good day all round.”

Maidstone United return to the scene of their FA Trophy win when they play struggling Cray Wanderers in the Ryman Premier League on Tuesday night.

The Stones are in ninth place in the table with 22 points from 15 games, with Ian Jenkins side struggling in the bottom three with a record of 12 points from 16 outings.

However, Jenkins gave midfielder Jerome Maledon, 22, his debut during yesterday’s 3-0 defeat at Ashford Town (Middlesex), having signed him, and striker Delano Sam-Yorke, 20, on a one-month loan deal from full-time Blue Square South giants Woking.

Turner, meanwhile, revealed that he will miss the visit to Cray Wanderers through family commitments, although he expects the Wands to pose problems for a Maidstone United side high on confidence following their exploits at the same ground at the weekend.

“It will be a tough game on Tuesday,” said Turner. “Obviously they lost yesterday, they’re going to be scrappy, but we go there and if we put in the same commitment as Saturday then I should think we’d get the result.”

The goalkeeper, meanwhile, has high expectations of striker Danny Hockton, 30, who raised eyebrows having signed for the Stones on Friday following his release from Blue Square South side Chelmsford City the previous evening.

Hockton, who turned down a return to Bromley, played 79 minutes against his former side yesterday.

“Massive signing, he’s definitely going to score goals for us in the Ryman League,” predicted Turner.

“I don’t think he was playing much at Chelmsford so he played yesterday, he looks good.

“Obviously he’s played with Pinno (James Pinnock) before at Margate and those two clicked off yesterday. Pinno knows his runs, Danny knows Pinno’s runs and so forth and they just work.

“It’s a good partnership and I can see Danny getting a bagful of goals for us. What we’ve been lacking really is an out-and-out goalscorer and he will get a few goals.”

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering this game.

Visit Cray Wanderers’ website: www.craywands.co.uk

Visit Maidstone United’s website: www.maidstoneunited.co.uk

Cray Wanderers v Maidstone United

Ryman Premier League

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Kick Off 7:45pm

At Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF