CRAY WANDERERS 1 MAIDSTONE UNITED 1
By Tom Rogers
The Stones laboured to a 1-1 draw away to Isthmian League side Cray Wanderers in their FA Cup 2nd Round Qualifier this weekend, with Tom Leahy’s strike being cancelled out late on by Robert Strachan’s header from a corner. For the second week running Craig Fagan’s side underwhelmed on the road, but this time they have the opportunity to make things right at the Gallagher on Tuesday night in a replay.
The first half was especially concerning for the Stones. It was a disjointed opening forty-five minutes, with Cray edging proceedings. Frankie Raymond, formerly of Bromley, caused trouble consistently from set pieces which targeted Lenny Holden in the Stones goal with deep in swinging deliveries.
The hosts biggest chance of the half fell to Ade Yusuff, a prolific scorer at this level, at around forty minutes. Ola Ogunwamide took control of possession, finding fellow forward Soul Kader. Kader’s ball across the Maidstone penalty area was a teasing one, with Yusuff unmarked at the back post he was unable to find the target, with his effort dragging wide right of Holden’s net.
The Stones, against the run of play, threatened to open the scoring twice in the dying embers of the half. Maidstone found a chance to do what they do best: break at pace. Riley Court picked up the ball and put in a marauding run to the edge of the Cray penalty area. With Leahy peeling away to his right in space, he laid off a perfect pass for the in-form forward who made a promising angle for himself to shoot from the edge of the Cray box, though his effort curled just over.
Ken Charles then had another sighter a few moments later. He moved out wide to find space in a crowded penalty area, picking the ball up on the right wing and working his way inside. Despite fashioning a good angle for the shot, he was unable to pick out a corner, meaning debutant Keeper JJ Briggs was able to push his effort away with a comfortable stop.
The second half began as the first one did, with disjointed play and a quiet atmosphere. The only noise provided by the crowd was by a lone Cray drummer, who furiously hammered his drum, tunelessly.
During a home game against Macclesfield eight years ago, a regular Maidstone fan, who shall remain nameless, threatened to smash a drum over our heads if we dared bang it near him, despite the fact we were barely fourteen: I remember thinking what a sad, nasty wanker he was at the time. I can confirm though, after listening to ninety minutes of aimless, repetitive banging during arguably the dullest game I’ve commentated on so far, I may have judged him too harshly.
After sixty-seven minutes of joyless battling, new signing Stan Leech was introduced up top in place of Ken Charles, who had struggled to get involved for much of the game. Leech gave the Stones a renewed energy and he seemed to enjoy fighting and bullying the Cray backline in a way Charles didn’t. With just shy of twenty minutes remaining, a Court corner wasn’t dealt with. After George Fowler won the initial knockdown, Frankie Hvid flicked it on towards Leahy, who was able to fire goalwards. With the help of a deflection, the Stones took the lead.
The game began to open up, and the Stones passed up on two opportunities to finish the tie. First Court and Leahy combined again in the final third, Leahy came inside from the left, fashioning room for a powerful shot that crashed off the post and spun away to safety. Moments later it was the two substitutes combining, with Tariq Uwakwe putting a great ball into Leech, who unmarked in the penalty area, forced Briggs into an excellent smothering save.
On the 83rd minute, with the Stones finally looking in control of the tie, Cray found a leveller. Alex Hernandez put a good corner into the area. Holden came but didn’t get anywhere near the delivery and Strachan was able to nod home to restore parity.
On the balance of play, a draw was fair. Maidstone struggled to control the match for large parts and Cray were able to drag us into a dogfight. A replay at home suits us far better than extra time or penalties would have done on a day we never really got going.
