A stunning free kick from Frannie Collin and a magnificent solo effort from Alex Brown won the game for Maidstone as they kept up their fine start to their season upon their return to the Ryman Premier.
In a lively start, both sides could have scored before the Stones broke the deadlock.
In the fourth minute, Andre McCollin was played clean through and almost with the goal at his mercy got the ball stuck under his feet allowing both Graeme Andrews and Richard Davies to get back to block the shot.
On seven minutes only the woodwork stopped Orlando Smith from shattering Kingstonian’s blank against column which before kick off stood at 540 minutes.
That proud unbeaten record was to go just six minutes later! After Smith was fouled on the edge of the Kingstonian area, Collin coolly stepped up and curled the ball brilliantly beyond keeper Rob Tolfrey and into the net via the left post.
553 minutes then since the season started before they conceded the first goal, it was perhaps inevitable that the second would arrive soon after and so it proved as Alex Brown picked the ball up in the centre circle and was allowed to run and run and run unchallenged before sliding the ball beyond Tolfrey and into the bottom corner.
Between the goals, the ever dangerous McCollin was denied by a desperate Andrews challenge as the strikers shot looped over a motionless Lee Worgan in the Stones goal only to bounce off of the top of the bar, and almost immediately after Brown scored, Worgan produced a fine low save to deny McCollin’s awkward bouncing shot that almost died on the surface.
After the break, the visitors showed why they came into the game as League leaders with the lively McCollin at the heart of all the good things Kingstonian had to offer.
Indeed just how the visitors didn’t get on the score sheet on 51 minutes is beyond the belief of nearly all of the 1,775 crowd. Again McCollin was at the heart of the move as his through ball found Dee Okojie who dinked the ball past the advancing Worgan, and with the goal at his mercy Ryan Moss somehow couldn’t turn the ball over the line from a yard out thanks mainly to a very hefty challenge from Steve Watt.
McCollin was himself then denied as a wayward defensive header was nodded on by Moss only for Worgan to smartly deny the unfortunate McCollin.
The home side who struggled for 20 minutes to get back into their stride then saw Alex Flisher get on the end of a cross field pass only for his first time shot to beat keeper Tolfrey only for the ball to flash past the left post.
Flisher then almost turned provider for Paul Booth, but the Stones centre forward crashed in a header that Tolfrey did very well to turn over the bar.
The introduction of Kingstonian sub Ali Chaaban with 18 minutes to go so nearly got the visitors back into the game.
On 76 minutes, Chaaban almost caught Worgan our at the foot of his left post as he fired in a free kick from wide on the left which very nearly crept in at Worgan’s near post.
Three minutes later, Chaaban was involved again as he was brought down in the box by Andrews and poor McCollin really proved that it really wasn’t his afternoon as his fiercely struck spot kick was brilliantly turned away to his left by Worgan at full stretch, and that was effectively that!
After losing at Hartsdown Park, manager Saunders demanded an improved performance from his charges. What he got was arguably as comfortable a 2-0 win as his side will enjoy all season long.
MAIDSTONE – Worgan, Davies, Mills, Watt, Andrews, Phillips (Lye 83), Smith, Brown (Hill 90), Booth (Saraiva 87), Collin, Flisher
Subs not used – Draycott, Sullivan
KINGSTONIAN – Tolfrey, Goode, Aldred, Drage (Somner 46), Page, Sweeney, Pattison (Ofusu-Hene 72), Kavanagh, Moss, McCollin, Okojie (Chaaban 72)
Subs not used – Jelley, Faith
Attendance: 1,775