Whitstable Town FC

Maidstone United 5 ? 2 Hythe Town

Bourne Park, Sittingbourne

Kentish Observer Kent League

Saturday 14^th January 2006

Goal Scorers

Maidstone United: Jimmy Strouts 10, 42, Mo Takaloo 16, Nick Hegley 54, Lynden Rowland 77

Hythe Town: Ian Hayes 58, 80

Maidstone United: Pat Mullin, Aaron Lacy, Craig Roser, Nathan Paul, Mario Celaire, Ryan Royston, Jimmy Strouts, Sam Tydeman (Jason Barton 60), Mo Takaloo (Simon Austin 70), Lynden Rowland, Nick Hegley (Lee Sperring 78). Subs not used: Lloyd Hume, Richard Mannerings.

Hythe Town: Nick Day, Rhys Taylor-Ryall (Mike Sherridan 83), Darren Winfield (Kieron Burn 73), Darren Walmsley, Dan Porter, John Mayall, Jason Brazier, Ian Hayes (Terry King 87), Roy Guiver, Farrel Cox, Dan Fisk. Subs not used: Scott Porter.

For the fifth time this season The Stones smashed five goals past the opposition but it so easily could have been a rout against a poor Hythe Side.

Town were without Roy Godden and ex-Stone Richard Sinden up front but they appeared to be even weaker at the back with a defence that threatened to leak goals every time Maidstone pushed forwards.

The only blip in The Stones performance was that they failed to keep a clean sheet as Alan Walker commented afterwards. He said: ? We talked to the players before the game about having belief in themselves and putting the so called weaker sides in this league to the sword and I think we did that. The only disappointment is that we conceded two sloppy goals.?

Hythe found themselves under pressure early on and their poor defending nearly cost them in the 4^th minute when they couldn?t clear Lynden Rowland?s ball into the box and Mo Takaloo at full stretch, put his shot just wide.

But the visitors did have a good chance to take the lead themselves three minutes later when they quickly broke away following a Stones corner and Ian Hayes found himself bearing down on Pat Mullin but he elected to shoot early and he failed to hit the target.

At the other end, an Aaron Lacy throw was flicked on by Ryan Royston to Takaloo who poked a gentle shot against the post which then trickled along the goal line before being put out and from the subsequent corner, Rowland saw his header cleared off the line.

It seemed evitable that The Stones would score and when the ball was pumped back into the box by Royston, the excellent Jimmy Strouts placed a header past Nick Day for the opening goal.

Just 6 minutes later, Maidstone added to their tally when Mario Celaire flicked on another Lacy throw and Takaloo rushed through a crowd of players in the box to fire in his 15^th league goal of the season.

Takaloo then saw another effort come back off the left hand post before Strouts ensured The Stones had a comfortable half time lead. Craig Roser played the ball into the box and Rowland managed to head the ball into the air, despite the presence of a Hythe defender and Strouts reacted quickly to score with a looping header.

Things didn?t improve for Hythe after the interval and it wasn?t long before Maidstone got a 4^th goal. Roser passed to Nick Hegley who wriggled into the box and managed to put enough power on his shot so that it squirmed under Day.

But some poor defending by The Stones allowed Ian Hayes to pull a goal back on 58 minutes and Hayes was allowed to add a second goal with 10 minutes remaining following a Hythe corner.

However, just before Hayes scored for the second time, The Stones added a 5^th goal following a good move which initially involved Royston and Celaire. Nick Hegley and Craig Roser then exchanged passes and from Hegley?s cross, Rowland diverted the ball past Day with a powerful header.