On Bonfire Night, the crowd at Roots Hall were treated to a wonderful display of football, albeit from two sides with contrasting styles.

But at the end of the night, Jason Williams’ hat-trick has taken Southend United into the Second Round of the FA Youth Cup, and a home tie with Oxford United in a fortnight’s time.

Maidstone United though can hold their heads up high, as after a slow start, they dominated their opponents for the majority of the first half, arguably scored the best two goals of the game through Jack Sullivan and Regan Payne, and impressed many with their determination and never-say-die attitude.

A proud manager, Jack Parkinson, spoke just after the final whistle, and said “It was a good effort after a really poor start.  They worked really hard, but, as we’ve spoken about just now, it is frustrating because I don’t think we were beaten by a better side tonight.  I feel the chances that they created were from our mistakes, and their manager (Ricky Duncan) has said to me at the end that he was embarrassed to have won that game and gone through.  It just wasn’t to be.”

“I’ve been to watch them play and we did stress that the first 20 minutes would be key.  They get the ball forward and deliver early into the box.  Everything we said they would do, they did, and we didn’t seem to be able to deal with it.  But credit to them, we responded well and going into half time I thought we had a chance.  In the second half they didn’t really cause us any problems, but you could also say we didn’t create.  I never felt that there was a gap in ability at all, the key was the decision-making; theirs was a little better than ours.

“In the first 20 minutes, we didn’t win any second balls or get tight enough.  They were just playing through us, but we pushed a little bit higher – Sully (Jack Sullivan) and Dan (Parkinson) switching, DJ (Dan Johnson) moving inside Ben Swift – and we seemed to get a bit more solid.  Once we got on top in midfield, we did create a bit.  We passed the ball well and looked dangerous, but huffed and puffed in the second half without having the same threat.”

“They didn’t create a lot, but in the context of the game, I thought we were defending well generally.  We made mistakes on the goals; we didn’t stop the first cross coming in, the second has just hit the forward; some boys were claiming handball, but I’m not sure.  The third goal was a poor pass between the centre backs and Will’s made a god save, but he (Williams) has outjumped two to put it in the net.  So it was three goals that, on another day, you think you’d like to stop.”

Maidstone were caught cold with the first meaningful attack of the game inside five minutes.  Southend’s Jack Bridge was quickest to react to a breakdown in midfield and fed the ball wide to Nico Cotton.  The winger’s early cross turned the Maidstone defence and Jason Williams was alert to poke the ball past Will Godmon, although Lee Pleau may have got the final touch.

By the time Southend scored their second after 16, they should have extended their lead already as Maidstone struggled to cope with the direct running from Williams, Cotton and Bridge.  Bridge, with a header wide having ghosted into the area unmarked, and Williams, who picked up a delightfully clipped through ball from Bridge, controlled first time and crashed a shot off the underside of the bar, had their chances.

But Williams wouldn’t be denied, although there was a hint of good fortune about the end result.  Another low cross from Cotton saw Ben Swift slide to hook clear, but the ball rebounded off Williams’ chest and back into the net.

Southend may have been quicker around the pitch, but Maidstone’s youngsters showed they weren’t overawed by the occasion, were prepared to play their football, and were rewarded with a goal back on 22.  Ross Bassan twisted into space inside the Southend half, and laid a ball through for Jack Sullivan to run onto between the Southend centre-backs, and the Stones’ skipper coolly slotted the ball past England U19 keeper Ted Smith.

The goal seemed to give Maidstone confidence and they gradually gained a foothold in midfield.  Dan Parkinson earned a freekick that he fired into the top deck of the Hi-Tec stand, then Regan Payne was given acres of space to curl a shot just past Smith’s right hand post.  But the keeper was unable to stop a piledriver from Payne on 35 that brought Maidstone level.  Good movement allowed Josh Algar to play Payne in on the right side and the winger fired an unstoppable drive across Smith into the corner.

Apart from a weaving run through the middle by Cotton that didn’t have a finish, Maidstone closed the half the stronger, and it seemed as though the Shrimpers were relieved to hear the half-time whistle.

Into the second half and both sides struggled to settle into any consistent play, but Southend’s direct attack, especially from Cotton and Williams was always causing Maidstone’s defence problems.  Bridge had a powerful run on the hour, striding through three challenges to the edge of the area before drawing a good save from Will Godmon in the Maidstone goal.

Maidstone tried to maintain their passing game, and looked to have gained an advantage when Southend’s playmaker Bridge was forced off with cramp.  But Williams claimed his hatrick with eleven minutes left, once again courtesy of more powerful direct running.  Charlie Barlow played the ball between Lee Pleau and Dan Johnson for Williams to run onto.  Pleau was unable to cope with the stronger forward who drew a good save from Godmon, before Williams jumped for the rebound first and heading into the unguarded net.

Maidstone threw on more attacking players and looked to hit long balls into the Southend area as time ran out, but there was no clear chance that could have seen the match go into extra time.

Looking forward, Parkinson added, “We’ve now got the Conference Cup on Friday against Havant & Waterlooville.  We reached the semi-final last year so it’s a competition I want to do well in.”

“There’s a lot to play for, and it’s a bonus for the lads to play in this sort of competition, but if they can learn from tonight, I’m sure we can go on to have a good season.”

“The boys showed tonight their work-rate, their commitment for the club, so hopefully people will keep coming out to watch.”

MAIDSTONE UNITED: Will Godmon, Ashley Long, Dan Johnson, Dan Parkinson, Lee Pleau, Ben Swift, Jack Sullivan, Josh Algar (Aidan Hayes 83), Josh Woolley, Ross Bassan (Conor Bovingdon 85), Regan Payne (Dom Lelliott 78).

Subs not used: Liam King, Steven Lawrence.

Goals: Jack Sullivan 22, Regan Payne 35

Bookings: Lee Pleau 75

SOUTHEND UNITED: Ted Smith, Jordan Williams, Emmanuel Adeyeye, Daniel King (Harry Norman 51), Daniel Matsuzaka, Joshua Banton, Brandon Scott, Charlie Barlow (Ross Johnson 85), Jason Williams, Jack Bridge (Frederick Gard 73), Nico Cotton.

Subs not used: James Macree, Sonny Coutts, Kojo Apenteng, Daniel Walker.

Goals: Jason Williams 4, 16, 79

Bookings: Joshua Banton 42

Attendance: 354
Referee: Mr Rob Smith
Assistants: Mr Jason Goldstein and Mr Luigi Lungarella