Goalkeeper Lee Worgan has praised his Maidstone United team-mates despite his heroics in the play-off final.

Worgan has been one of Maidstone United’s pivotal performers in the club’s promotion to the National League and at the weekend was the hero in saving two Ebbsfleet United penalties in the shoot out win in the National League South Play Off Final at Stonebridge Road.

We caught up with Lee after the game…

And to start with, the Stones stopper wouldn’t accept that he was the hero.

“I’m not going to take that as everyone who played a part today was a hero!”  Lee went on, “We had to come from behind twice and we showed great character against possibly one of the best sides you’ll see outside of the Football League, but we’ve kept going and it’s a great way to win it!”

In the game proper, Lee had been beaten by two terrific penalties from Fleet skipper Danny Kedwell, and so we wondered what had gone through his mind as he faced Kedwell again in the shoot out knowing that if it was to prove third time lucky for the keeper, his side would win promotion.

“I had a good chat with my number two goalkeeper Will (Godman) and he asked me what I thought and I said to him with Keds, I’m just going to stand up as he’ll probably put his foot through it.”

“It’s a huge gamble for a keeper to stand still as you can look like an idiot trying to do it – he’d already beaten me twice from the spot, but I had to fancy myself as I didn’t want to be beaten three times. I managed to stand up and he’d done what I hoped he’d do…”

The Stones had started the Final at fast pace that seemed to unsettle their hosts. “We knew we had to start well as we hadn’t done that in big games recently, so we knew that that was something they may have picked out about us,” the Stones skipper admitted.

“We tried to start well and when you do start like that, you hope to get a goal or two, but it just didn’t happen. I think they then took control of the game – they kept possession well and although we didn’t see a lot of the ball, we managed to weather the storm.”

“With this team anything is possible as we’ve shown all season and we sure showed it in the Final! To be honest, I did think that it might have been too late, so we just had to get the ball into their half as quickly as possible and see what we can do and we managed to bundle the ball in for our fairy tale ending and it’s one that the boys fully deserved.”

The presentation of the Play Off Trophy took place in front of the Stones travelling support – a fact that pleased everyone in Amber and Black especially the skipper.

“They deserve it more than anyone. They came to the game in great voice and great numbers – as they have done all season long – there was all the business about ticket allocations, but that’s by the by – but they turned up and they’ve been brilliant. To get back to back promotions at any level is a massive achievement and to do it at Stonebridge Road against a team like Ebbsfleet is brilliant.”

Reflecting on what his side had achieved, Lee said, “When I joined the club from Tonbridge, there was a big thing made about it at the time about me taking a voluntary relegation, but I believed in Jay – he’s a fantastic manager and I hope that we can keep hold of him – and I believed in the whole ethos of the place and it just shows what can be achieved when a club puts their mind to it!”