At the end of a tough physical battle reminiscent of their days in the Ryman Premier, Maidstone United finally ended the challenge of Chippenham Town to claim their place in the draw for the Emirates FA Cup First Round Proper.

Jay May’s 41st minute penalty gave the Stones a half-time lead. But, despite May seeing a second penalty saved, Chippenham being reduced to ten men through an injury to Conor McCormack, then nine when skipper Greg Tindle was dismissed when bringing down Alex Osborn, the game wasn’t sealed until deep in stoppage time when Bobby-Joe Taylor finally produced the finish his run deserved.

Both sides fielded a number of players standing at over 6-foot-tall, and for long periods, it seemed that set-pieces would be the deciding factor in the game. The first chance fell to left-back Scott Bevan from a corner, with a volley that forced Lee Worgan into a good save low to his right, and the assistant’s flag denying Andy Sandell a chance at the follow-up.

Tom Mills fired a shot at the Chippenham goal that bounced awkwardly in front of Kent Kauppinen, but the keeper was able to make a clean catch, and Matt Bodkin drove through the Bluebirds’ defence only for the ball to get stuck under his feet in the area, allowing Iain Harvey to deflect his shot wide.

For a defence that had earned seven consecutive clean sheets in the National South, Maidstone’s back-line was looking shaky against the aerial bombardment from Chippenham, and from James Guthrie’s accurate delivery from free kicks. One free kick swung in from the right wing found Sandell completely unmarked at the back post, but his header lacked the potency to trouble Worgan.

The breakthrough, when it arrived in the 41st minute, was earned through the endeavour of Alex Osborn. Four players collided trying to reach Bodkin’s corner, with the ball dropping to Osborn in the ‘D’. The winger tried to skip past Bevan’s challenge, but was brought down inside the area, allowing Jay May to calmly send Kauppinen the wrong way with his spot kick.

With the goal lead, and playing up the substantial slope in the second half, Maidstone looked far more comfortable, and manager Jay Saunders admitted he had instructed his side to play in a more direct manner. Moving the ball through the midfield quicker allowed Bodkin to sweep a cross in from the right, where May powered a header straight into Kauppinen’s arms.

The physical nature of the game saw both sides lose their right full backs to injury, although for Chippenham, this meant being reduced to ten men having used all three substitutes. Two of the replacements, Alouine Diouf and Oli Taylor added to the height advantage, although the Stones never allowed a clear sight of goal until near the end.

In the 76th minute, Joe Healy played May in behind the Chippenham defence, and as May drove into the box, Kauppinen dived across his path bringing the forward down. Mr Hulme adjudged that as May was heading wide of the goal, this was only worthy of a caution, and the keeper was in place to make a save from May’s 2nd penalty of the afternoon; although the shot was at a comfortable height to the left side of the goal.

Ryan Campbell had a shot charged down by Jamie Coyle moments later, and from this counter attack Osborn was played into the Bluebirds’ half. Osborn powered past Mark Preece’s challenge and was crudely brought down in the ‘D’ by TIndle; who was dismissed as the last man. Bodkin couldn’t take advantage from the free kick, but this left Chippenham to battle on with 9 men, while Maidstone were reduced to 10 until Bobby-Joe Taylor replaced the stricken Osborn.

In the 86th minute, it looked as though the nine men might have rescued a draw, as Oli Taylor found space at a corner to head down and goalwards, where a combination of Worgan and James Rogers hacked clear from the line.

In stoppage time, as the sun finally broke through the clouds, Bobby-Joe Taylor had two chances to seal the match. First, he picked up a cross-field pass from Bodkin to drive into the area, and his squared pass towards May was cleared by the recovering Sandell.

Moments later – the 7th minute of added time – Taylor picked up Steve Watt’s headed clearance, and made a direct run into the area. It seemed as though the chance might have gone as Taylor was twice forced to change direction, ignoring team mates supporting him, but Taylor finally worked the space to slot the ball home.

Jay Saunders admitted he’d found the tie “horrible”, and explained “you can see why they don’t lose many here. They are very direct, and even with nine men at the end, they were bombarding us. We got the job done though, and apart from a couple of saves from Worgs (Lee Worgan), we controlled it well.”

“If you look at the chances we created second half, they were when we got in behind them. It wasn’t how we thought we would get there, as we’ve got a lot more technical players this year, but it turned out we needed players in there who would battle. I was thinking of bringing Watty (Steve Watt) on, but Callum’s dead leg forced it on me, and James Rogers came into the middle, as they were bombarding the area.”

“You’ve got to give (Chippenham) full credit. They’ve not been beaten here this season and they test you from set-peices. It wasn’t a pretty game to watch, but we’ve worked hard to grind out the 2-0 result.”

Maidstone can now look forward to Monday night’s live First Round draw, and maybe that dream tie.

CHIPPENHAM TOWN: Kent Kauppinen, Conor McCormack, Scott Bevan, Iain Harvey (Alouine Diouf 59), Greg Tindle, Mark Preece, Alex Ferguson (Ryan Campbell 51), Matt Smith, Ashan Holgate, Andy Sandell, James Guthrie (Oli Taylor 65).

Subs not used: Matt Jones, Jon Beeden, Josh Lax.

Bookings: Matt Smith 34, Kent Kauppinen 76, Andy Sandell 90+3
Sent Off: Greg Tindle 78.

MAIDSTONE UNITED: Lee Worgan, Callum Driver (Steve Watt 66), Tom Mills, Jamie Coyle, Manny Parry, Jack Paxman (James Rogers 69), Matt Bodkin, Joe Healy, Jay May, Adam Birchall, Alex Osborn (Bobby-Joe Taylor 82).

Subs not used: Frannie Collin, Alex Akrofi, Ben Bridle-Card, Alex Flisher.

Goals: Jay May 41 (pen), Bobby-Joe Taylor 90+7.
Booking Joe Healy 73.

Attendance: 811
Referee: Mr Richard Hulme (Radstock)
Assistants: Mr Simon Shaw (Bristol) and Mr Alan Berrow (Lydney)
Fourth Official: Mr Graham Pugh (Stroud)