Maidstone United must wait another year to reach the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup for the first time since reforming as SKYBET League Two side Oldham Athletic took the spoils to book their place on Round Three.

The Stones never recovered from going a goal down on 17 minutes when a home defender inadvertently turned an Oldham free kick back across the face of goal and defender Peter Clarke gave Grant Smith in the home goal no chance.

Try as they might the Stones just could not find a way through and when Chris O’Grady battled through from practically on the goal line before beating Smith from the angle, it sent the 1994 Semi Finalists in to the next stage.

The Latics arrived in Kent in mid table in League Two after winning through against another Non League side – Hampton and Richmond Borough – live on BT Sport and were accompanied by the BBC cameras for “Football Focus”.

But in the end, it was Oldham who remain on the March to the Arch.

Buoyed by their early goal, the home side would have found themselves two behind had Callum Lang not headed over the ever impressive Gevaro Nepomuceno’s centre – it had been Nepomuceno who had delivered the set piece for the opening goal.

The visitors went even closer shortly after as Sam Surridge hit the frame of the goal.

The home side’s only worthwhile effort of note came in first half stoppage time but Elliott Romain shot straight at Oldham keeper Daniel Iverson.

Maidstone were in indebted to skipper Jack Paxman for clearing Surridge’s header off the line before the Stones had their best chance, Iverson was alert to deny Romain as the home striker battled through with the help of Cassidy, only for the Oldham keeper to deny Romain with his legs.

Maidstone were becoming increasing frustrated and the final straw came on eighty-four minutes when O’Grady slammed home the visitors’ second.  In a way the home side’s afternoon was summed up with the last kick of the game that saw sub Ollie Muldoon crash a 25 yard free kick smashing onto Iverson’s crossbar.

So the March to the Arch is over for the Stones – now for Harry Wheeler and his side starts in earnest the long hard winter of a relegation battle in the National League starting next Saturday with a trip to Barrow.

 

Maidstone United: Smith, Phillips, Finney (Florence 87), De Havilland, McLennan, Paxman, Durojaiye (Mulddon), Tajbakhsh, Powell, Romain, Cassidy.

Subs not used: Strizovic, Richards, Williams, Tingley

Oldham Athletic:  Iverson, Dummigan, Edmundson, Clarke, Hunt, Lang, Mauouche, Nepomuceno, Surridge, OGrady

Subs not used: Coke, Graham, Branger,  Hamer, McFarlane, Norman, Williams.

Goals: Clarke (17), O’Grady (84).

Referee: Mr Alan Young

Attendance: 3,560