Maidstone United suffered their first home defeat of the season, slipping to a 2-0 reverse in the FA Trophy against AFC Sudbury.
The Stones were already one down to Kris Newby’s 19th minute header before being reduced to 10 men when Jay May was sent off following an aerial challenge with Craig Pope. Newby sealed the game with two minutes remaining in normal time drilling a 25-yard shot into the corner of the net.
Stones’ manager, Jay Saunders, who was asked to leave the dugout following May’s dismissal, thought his much-changed side was good enough to win the game, and said “we had spells. I thought second half we were the better side with 10 men. But the game was summed up in the first half; the sending off has killed it as a spectacle.”
“The decision to send Jay off is ridiculous as their bench was shoutiing “watch the elbows” before Jay has even jumped. The ref wasn’t going to give a freekick. It’s only after their bench came running out that he’s blown.”
“We’ve got a lot of game coming up, we now go Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, so we needed to freshen it up. The disappointing thing for me was the way we conceded the goal; it was too easy as we didn’t stay with the runners. I’ll ignore the second as we were throwing bodies forward. I didn’t want a replay, but it’s never nice to lose a game.”
“We kept the ball well at times and passed it round without causing too many problems. The side should have been good enough to beat Sudbury, but the sending off has killed it. Everything we’d planned before the game had to change. We wanted to win today. Not only is it money for the club, it’s a good competition and we had a chance in it. But Sunday and Wednesday took a lot out of us and some players needed a break.”
With the side showing 7 changes (1 positional) from the midweek draw against Dulwich Hamlet ahead of Thursday’s FA Cup replay against Stevenage, it was understandable that Maidstone took time to settle into the game. Ben Greenhalgh’s direct running allowed Alex Akrofi chances to dart in behind the three Sudbury central defenders, but keeper Marcus Garnham was quickly off his line to deny Akrofi’s best chance when Jay May flicked on Lee Worgan’s clearance.
Sudbury showed that they had a threat from long throws on both wings, and competed well enough that no Maidstone defender could challenge for the ball. On 13, Jack Wilkinson’s throw into the area wasn’t cleared, and Correy Davidson’s shot from the penalty spot was well parried by Worgan high to his right.
May had a header drop wide when Jack Parkinson floated in a cross from midway in the Sudbury half, but the visitors took the lead on 19, when the Stones failed to clear the ball from their right corner. Davidson managed to wriggle to the deadball line and cut a cross back towards the edge of the 6-yard box, where Kris Newby was running in to direct a header beyond Worgan’s reach and in off the right post.
Tempers boiled over on 23 though following an aerial challenge between May and Craig Pope. The Sudbury bench immediately reacted, as did a number of players and in the aftermath, May was shown a red card for an alleged elbow. With discussions continuing between the referee and one of his assistants, and fingers being pointed at the Maidstone bench, manager Jay Saunders was also asked to leave the dugout.
A scrappy period followed which saw further cards brandished for niggely tackles, before the referee called the two captains together following a scything tackle from behind by Ryan Henshaw on Alex Brown to try to calm matters down.
Maidstone settled after this and on 42, Greenhalgh curled a 20-yard freekick towards the top right corner, but Garnham was able tip over for a corner. From the corner, Greenhalgh’s deep ball found Parkinson at the back post. His header down fell to Richard Davies, whose stab goalwards was saved by Garnham on the line.
Moments later, Akrofi turned Henshaw in the area, but his shot was blocked by Pope, and Davidson lashed a good opportunity high over with the goal at his mercy from another Sudbury long throw.
Akrofi almost found an equaliser with the first move of the second half. The forward seemed to have been closed off on the left corner of the area, but suddenly unleashed a shot that swerved and dipped past a motionless Garnham, only to crash back off the inside of the post and back through the keeper’s legs.
With Maidstone committing more and more players forward, Sudbury almost profited from a misunderstanding between Worgan and Miles. The keeper came out and headed the ball away from Newby, but as he went to complete the clearance, Miles hooked the ball into the path of Davidson. The Sudbury winger took his time moving towards the Maidstone area, but as Worgan recovered his position, his shot could only find the side netting.
Newby and James Baker both shot narrowly wide, but the best Sudbury chance came from a low Newby cross that deflected off Miles, and Worgan had to use his legs to stop the ball crossing the line.
When in possession, the Stones’ ten men were switching the ball well from wing to wing, and put a number of dangerous balls into the Sudbury area. Parkinson and Akrofi couldn’t make a clean contact as Sudbury struggled to clear, leading to a Coyle header that Garnham claimed with ease.
Worgan produced a superb reaction to tip an effort from Jack Guyton over the bar with 7 minutes left. When Maidstone switched play to the other end, Ben Robinson became the 6th player booked in the match for a cynical clip on Tom Mills as the defender was breaking into the area. Matt Bodkin curled the ball over the wall and inside the left post, but at a good height for Garnham to throw himself across to turn the shot round for a corner.
With two minutes left, Sudbury sealed the game through the dangerous Newby. Maidstone lost the ball under pressure in the Sudbury half, and the visitors broke on a 3-on-2 counter. Newby decided to ignore his two runners and drove the ball home from 25 yards into the bottom left corner.
Greenhalgh had a late chance that Garnham fumbled away for a corner, but there was no way back for the Stones.
MAIDSTONE UNITED: Lee Worgan, Richard Davies (Tom Mills 57), Phil Starkey, Jamie Coyle ©, Sonny Miles, Alex Brown (Charley Robertson 78), Ben Greenhalgh, Jack Parkinson, Jay May, Alex Akrofi, Bradley Jordan (Matt Bodkin 65).
Subs not used: James Sutherland, Will Godmon.
Bookings: Alex Akrofi 26, Richard Davies 34, Ben Greenhalgh 70, Alex Brown 71.
Sent Off: Jay May 23, Jay Saunders 24
AFC SUDBURY: Marcus Garnham, Ben Robinson, Jack Wilkinson, Correy Davidson (Lee Flynn 62), Ryan Henshaw, Craig Pope, Kris Newby, Sam Clarke ©, James Baker (Terry Rymer 67), Scott Kemp (Jack Guyton 76), Ollie Berquez.
Subs not used:, Lawrence Yiga, Ayrton Coley.
Goal: Kris Newby 19 & 88
Booking: Ryan Henshaw 36, Ben Robinson 85, Terry Rymer 90.
Attendance: 1,423
Referee: Mr J Whittaker
Assistants: Mr K Sear and Mr P Wilson