Stones take an “easy three points” on a liberating day at Meadowbank.
Marc White might well have been joking when he said Saturday’s match would offer “three easy points”, for Dorking Wanderers, but he was struggling to raise a smile by the end, as his microphone malfunctioned and he admitted to “waffling” as he tried to digest a defeat he clearly hadn’t seen coming.
Whether the slight was intentional or not, Craig Fagan used it to motivate a group of players who didn’t seem to need a lot of motivation. Fired up by their performance against Folkestone on Tuesday, Maidstone made Dorking look like a poor side. It’s possible they are a poor side of course, but our record at Meadowbank meant the fans travelled with low expectations, despite Tuesday’s pyrotechnics.
2019. Marc White, about to get chased across the pitch by Hakan Hayrettin. Picture by Steve Terrell.
That record, in case you really wanted reminding, included: a 3-1 defeat in 2019, which culminated in Hakan Hayrettin chasing Marc White into the tunnel; the 3-2 defeat in 2023 when we were leading in stoppage time, only for our former player Bobby Joe Taylor to score twice; and then last year’s sorry, autumnal capitulation.
There’s almost always at least one red card when these teams meet and there’s a level of baggage that comes with this fixture.
Right now White is probably the biggest star in non-league football, which might sound like a contradiction in terms, but from Ron Atkinson, to Barry Fry, to Steve Evans, the semi-pro game has always had “characters”. And ever since Wrexham jumped into another dimension, White has topped the A list, thanks to the Bunch of Amateurs documentary series. I don’t watch this as religiously as some Maidstone fans do, but I did watch the season preview on Friday night, which featured White charming his new American partners, who couldn’t seem to get enough of him saying “fuck” and “mate”.
He did seem slightly strained however and their start to the season has been underwhelming, given the expectations they operate under.
People may have been put off travelling due to the horrendous crash on the M20. The eastbound carriage had re-opened by mid-morning, but the crowd was 1,400, 300 down from their average last season and with maybe 2-300 travelling from Maidstone. This was on a Saturday afternoon with fine weather and no obvious game that you’d watch on a firestick.
When Dorking went ahead midway through the first half it was difficult not think: “Here we go again”. It had been fairly even and it was a poor goal to concede. Hamblin fell over in the build-up and Nikaj reacted quicker than Foran to get to the rebound after Holden’s initial save, although we’d learn more about Foran’s reaction times later in the afternoon.
Previous Maidstone sides would have sulked at this point, but this one dug in.
White claimed the ball hadn’t crossed the line for Leahy’s goal and no doubt we’ll see this framed with the balance BoA are famed for in due course, but the screenshot suggested it was a lot further over the line than Geoff Hurst’s and by half-time we were unlucky not to be ahead.
There was so much space for Maidstone to operate in you assumed Dorking would do something about it, but if anything they seemed even more open in the second half. Court, it almost goes without saying, was stellar, but Leahy was also excellent, proving both assists. He picked out an unmarked Charles for the second and then split what was left of the defence for the third, Court rounding the keeper before finishing with his left.
Dorking looked completely bereft of ideas until Barrett, who looked “unfit”, floated one in from the edge of the box. Whether he meant it or not was debatable, but after scoring he seemed to use Gravata as a vaulting horse, which might have been a booking had the referee seen him.
The final ten minutes were inevitably tense, although tactically we avoided “doing a Tuchel.” Sitting back would have been a mistake. Dorking looked just as likely to concede again as they did to equalise and it was nice to see Chime come on and run at a knackered-looking defence. There was one major alarm when Nikaj flashed one across the face of goal but then it was over.
Craig Fagan looked especially pleased and led some Elokobi-like celebrations in front of the away end.
White, meanwhile, admitted they’d been poor and that their press had been about as effective as a marzipan dildo (my words, not his) before tearing into “four or five” of Dorking’s supporters for the abuse they’d given him and the team.
There’s a certain kind of football fan who lives in a permanent state of agitation and believes everything can be reduced to a two-word solution: White/Ash/Ainsworth/Levy Out. Dorking have acquired a few and even after a win like this one of ours decided to beg Oliver to sell up, which he understandably bit back at.
Most people were happy, if not delighted to have finally come to Meadowbank and won. And as we left town, a large black SUV pulled up alongside us on the High Street. Taylor Foran smiled and showed his reaction times by doing us at the lights.
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