Maidstone United 0-0 Croydon Athletic. We didn't perform tonight, admits table topping Hume

MAIDSTONE UNITED 0-0 CROYDON ATHLETIC
Ryman League Division One South
Wednesday 14^th March 2007
Stephen McCartney reports from Bourne Park

A young Croydon Athletic side pulled off a shock result by holding Maidstone United to a goal-less draw at Bourne Park tonight.

These two sides met just under three weeks ago and Ryan Royston’s hat-trick helped the Stones to a 4-1 win, and everyone was expecting a repeat score-line against the cash strapped Surrey club tonight.

The Rams went into tonight’s encounter low on confidence, having lost their last six games, whilst Maidstone United had won their last eight.

But there was a subdued atmosphere during and after this stalemate, despite the Kent side collecting the point they needed to reclaim top spot in the Ryman League Division One South table.

Hastings United jumped over the Stones last night following their un-inspiring 3-2 win at strugglers Ashford Town, albeit with ten-men.

But just like last season when Ramsgate and Horsham ran away with promotion from this division, there is a two horse race this term to see which one team will qualify for automatic promotion.

With Maidstone and Hastings both on 64 points, the Kent side hold the advantage as they still have two games in hand.

And with ten league games remaining, Maidstone United will need to rediscover their recent form to cross the finishing line as winners.

Keeping the same starting eleven that won 3-1 at Molesey on Saturday, Maidstone United fans thought their side had scored after just two and a half minutes.

Striker Lynden Rowland latched onto Sam Tydeman’s through ball and slipped the ball past advancing goalkeeper Danny Firkins and with some fans in the stand celebrating they looked on in agony as the ball rolled the wrong side of the foot of the near post.

But Rowland did find the back of the net after thirteen minutes when he tapped home from six-yards but the offside flag had already been raised after Tydeman’s pass.

Rowland went close again, this time with a header, after 17 minutes.

Nick Hegley rolled the ball to Craig Roser, on the overlap, down the left hand side and his left-footed cross was met by a towering header by Rowland, which flew past the near post from just four yards out.

Central defender Ryan Royston was forced off the pitch with an ankle injury soon after and was grateful for goalkeeper Pat Mullin for getting him out of a sticky situation.

Royston’s header back to Mullin was intercepted by nippy front-man Moses Ademola, whose attempted lob was dealt with by the goalkeeper on the edge of his penalty area.

Maidstone United endured a very frustrating night and another chance went begging on the half-hour mark.

Left-back Roser ghosted in towards the edge of the penalty area and met Aaron Lacy’s cross from the right with a header which cleared Firkins crossbar.

And former Ramsgate striker Mo Takaloo was denied a goal just two minutes later when he received the ball from Hegley but his right-footed chip from eighteen yards clipped the top of the left post.

Mullin finally faced a shot in the 43^rd minute but youth team product Adam Wadmore skied his 30-yard shot following a header out of defence by Mario McNish.

Croydon Athletic were indebted to goalkeeper Firkins on the stroke of half-time when he made the save of the match.

Takaloo cracked a right-footed shot from 25-yards which was destined for the top right hand corner but Firkins managed to tip the ball onto the top of the crossbar and over for a corner.

Maidstone United brought on lively striker Alex Tiesse at the interval for Hegley, who, despite cutting in from the left at every opportunity, lacked the cutting edge.

And the Kent side created two openings inside the opening eight minutes of the second half.

McNish came up from his defensive duties for his side’s fifth corner of the game only to send his bullet header over the bar following Lacy’s near post delivery.

Then, Tiesee rolled a shot harmlessly wide of the far post after cutting in from the left.

Frustration crept in, both on and off the pitch, when Takaloo squandered the best chance of the second half after 62 minutes.

Tiesse chipped a cross from the left hand side and this was flicked into Takaloo’s path by substitute Jason Barton but Takaloo’s angled ten-yard shot was comfortably saved low down by Firkins at his near post.

At the other end, Ademola tried his luck from twenty yards a minute later but his shot ceared Mullin’s bar.

A Tydeman free-kick from forty yards out was met by a diving header from Rowland from 12-yards and this flashed past the far post.

Then Tydeman’s left-footed drive from 25-yards out took a deflection before ending up in Firkins’ grateful arms.

Firkins was tested with a half-volley from Barton with thirteen minutes remaining but the young goalkeeper dived low to his right to prevent the ball finding the bottom corner.

But despite ending the game with four men up front the Stones failed to break the deadlock and had to settle for a point.

“It’s a disappointing night,” Stones joint-manager Lloyd Hume told www.kentishfootball.co.uk  afterwards.

“To be honest the performance rolled over from Saturday. I don’t think we were great against Molesey and I think the scoreline flattered us there a little bit.

“I warned the players before the game that Croydon were playing a young side and they will be playing kids that won’t give us any respect for being top.

“To be fair they made it very had for us, worked very hard and we didn’t perform to anywhere near to our maximum potential.

“If we perform to our maximum potential we’ll beat anyone. If we don’t we’ll come unstuck and we’ve done that tonight.”

On Saturday Maidstone United welcome Horsham YMCA to Bourne Park and Tommy Sampson, their coach, was watching from the main stand tonight.

The west Sussex club are a surprise package this season and are in eighth place and will be looking to upset the Stones to enhance their play-off dream.

Despite feeling disappointed tonight, Hume expects to see the bigger picture when he wakes up tomorrow morning.

He said: I’m disappointed tonight and frustrated and I’ll wake up in the morning and I’ll think it’s a different day now and we’ve got another game Saturday.

“If we win on Saturday all the thoughts of negativity will be out my head.

“It’s just how I feel right now and I feel the players didn’t perform tonight and I’ve let them know how I feel, so has Alan, and hopefully we’ll get them back in the right frame of mind for Saturday.”

Meanwhile, chairman Mr Paul Bowden-Brown will receive a cheque for over £3,500 on Saturday.

The money was raised by the group of supporters who walked the 42-miles from James Whatman Way to Crabble last month before Maidstone’s emphatic 4-2 win over Dover Athletic.

In other news, reserve team player Aaron Shade has made the switch from Tonbridge Angels.

And he made a dream start to his Stones’ reserve team career by scoring a hat-trick in their
9-2 win at Ashford Town on Saturday.