Dan Wishart’s first half strike saw Maidstone United shock Torquay United in the rain to progress into the Second Round Proper of the Emirates FA Cup.
The hosts sit 8th in the Vanarama National League South Division, whilst the visitors are in the Vanarama National League and are in 5th spot, so the visitors were the ones who you’d expect to get through in this one.
But this is the FA Cup so anything can happen and backed by a 2,000 plus crowd inside the Gallagher Stadium, a ground I was visiting for the very first time, the hosts were certainly bang up for this one. I have to say I was very impressed with the stadium and the atmosphere created inside it too.
The hosts side footed wide the first real opportunity early on, but in the 18th minute they did take the lead when terrific play from Wishart so him beat his man and charge down the left before sending a cross shot across goal which was deflected into the far corner, and it sent the home fans wild and gave the underdogs the advantage.
The visitors looked to try and get back on level terms, and attacking the goal where their 300 or so fans were gathered to the right of that goal, Gulls left-back Liam Davies got in down the left, but his effort was skewed wide, and in doing so got caught by a defender, and the visiting player ended up being stretchered off, so it wasn’t a great start for the visitors.
The hosts had a couple more threatening moments, seeing a shot go straight at the keeper before the hosts thought they had won a spot kick after Wishart went down under a challenge, but referee Joe Hull pointed the other way for a visitors free-kick, much to the confusion around me and most of the stadium.
But the hosts did go into the break a goal up and were halfway to the next round of the competition. No doubt Gary Johnson, the Torquay boss, would have had plenty to say to his side in the dressing room at half time.
Half Time Maidstone United 1 Torquay United 0
So how would the visitors respond to no doubt an angry boss at the half, well initially they put the hosts under some early second half pressure, but didn’t really do enough with this pressure, as the bench cut a very frustrated figure.
Maidstone were battling hard and winning a lot of the 50/50 challenges and they saw a couple of efforts go just over the bar as they looked for a second goal a big cushion in this one, two goals would have been a big cushion in the context of this tie, which was tight and being played like an FA Cup tie should, with 100% commitment.
The visitors then had a spell again where they pushed the visitors back, and the closest they went to levelling was when a decent ball across the box was side footed wide of the far post, just, by a covering defender, it was very close to being a own goal, but it turned out to be a brilliant bit of defending.
More good defending thwarted the visitors when another decent ball in was brilliantly cleared from inside the six-yard box, as the hosts defended their goal with all their might and strength.
The Stones were still a threat going forward too, and ten minutes from time so nearly sealed the tie when Gambian Saidou Khan twisted and turned before sending a right-footed effort inches wide of the post, it was so close and it would of made the final few minutes more comfortable for the hosts no doubt.
But the home side stood firm at anything the visitors could throw at them, and the final whistle was met with jubilation from the hosts and their fans as they could celebrate reaching the Second Round of the FA Cup by causing an upset here.
For the visitors it was First Round disappointment for the second successive season after they fell to Woking at this stage last year, and they faced a lengthy journey home to think about what went wrong here. Promotion back to the Football League must now be their priority as their cup run ended here in the rain in Kent.
Full Time Maidstone United 1 Torquay United 0
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