Whitstable Town FC

Maidstone United vs Andover: FA Vase 2^nd Round

Bourne Park, Sittingbourne: Saturday 19th November

Goal Scorers

Maidstone United: Mo Takaloo 12, 58, Ryan Royston 38, Nick Hegley 68

Line Ups

Maidstone United: Pat Mullin, Aaron Lacy, Craig Roser, Simon Austin (Nathan Paul 59), Mario Celaire, Ryan Royston, Jimmy Strouts (Jason Barton 69), Lyndon Rowland, Mo Takaloo, Nick Hegley (Lee Sperring 71) Sub not used: Richard Mannerings.

Andover: Colin Hopkins, Mark Ketogh (Nic Turpin 69), Callum Earl, Glen Damen, Ashley Vine, Bobby Swayne, Danny Lewis (Matt Styles 81),Danny Sullivan (Peter Kingman 69), Phil Andrews, Jaz Chahal, Dave Asker. Subs not used: Ryan Boare, Kieron Hall.

Another apparently tricky FA Vase tie, another comfortable victory for The Stones. Its taken a couple of seasons but Lloyd Hume?s men finally seemed to have got the knack of playing well in the Vase.

In front of the biggest FA Vase crowd ever at Bourne Park, United easily saw off a disappointing Andover side without ever really reproducing their best form. And Andover manager Ady Burford felt his side was unfortunate to lose by such a margin. He said: ?I?m very disappointed. I felt we were bullied and we didn?t think that they were four goals better than us. We don?t play too many sides in our league that lamp the ball forward and chase it but in the first half every thing they hit, they hit with a bit of a quality and power and they are a good side.?

The Stones couldn?t have wished for a better start as they took the lead with just 12 minutes played. Simon Austin?s exquisite ball over the top of Andover?s defence fell at Nick Hegley?s feet and although his shot was blocked by Colin Hopkins? legs he collected the rebound and crossed for Mo Takaloo to head into the empty net.

But going a goal in front seemed to have a detrimental effect on United?s performance and for 20 minutes they struggled to rediscover their early rhythm. The visitors should have equalised just moments after the opening goal when the ball struck Ryan Royston?s arm and fell into the path of Danny Sullivan but with just Pat Mullin to beat, he scuffed his shot against Mullin?s feet.

And Mullin came to the rescue again with 32 minutes played with a stunning save to tip Phil Andrews? equally impressive drive onto the bar. This save seemed to jolt The Stones back into action and Jimmy Strouts went close when he arrived late to connect with Lyndon Rowland?s pull-back but he side footed his volley over the bar.

But a second goal wasn?t far away and it resulted from an Aaron Lacy throw which caused panic in the Andover defence and Royston had the simple task of tapping the ball over the line from just yards out.

Shortly before half time, Royston nearly grabbed a spectacular second goal when Sam Tydeman?s free-kick was headed across goal by Mo Takaloo and Royston, lurking at the back post, fired his volley inches over.

Despite being 2-0 in front, Lloyd Hume wasn?t pleased with the way his side were performing at the break, He said: ? In the first half we created lots of chances but we went through a spell where we made a couple of mistakes at the back  and  we panicked for 20 minutes. At half time I wasn?t happy at 2-0 and we told them what we thought of them. There weren?t too many positives but the biggest positive was that we hadn?t played well and we were 2-0 up.?

The half time team talk worked to good effect and United completely dominated the second half. Jimmy Strouts found himself one on one with Hopkins but he blasted his shot against the keeper before The Stones extended their lead with a superbly worked free-kick. A handball right on the edge of the Andover penalty area presented Takaloo with a chance to score his

18^th goal of the season and he took it, sending a perfectly curled shot over the wall and into the top left hand corner of the net.

A good afternoon for The Stones was then rounded off when the hard-working Nick Hegley burst into the penalty area and hit his shot with sufficient force so that it just trickled over the line after most of the power was taken out of it by Hopkin?s legs.

United have now faced apparently stiff opposition in both of the last rounds but Hume isn?t too worried about who they will draw on Monday morning. He said: ?We?ll take what we get dealt. It will be nice to get an easy tie at home obviously but it?s not something I?m expecting. We will play who ever we get dealt and hopefully we will play well and win.?