Men's 1s v Gore Court

Having had an unblemished league record in October, Maidstone leave November having not won a league game in the month - this is despite having second half leads in all four of those fixtures. A run of poor results is not necessarily an indication of a drop off of standards and performances, however. Maidstone's results are merely reflective of the league table - they have taken the sword to those in the four of the table and battled hard against those alongside and above them. This past weekend's fixture was no different - Maidstone sat in 7th and Gore Court in 6th with the sides having identical records to one another.

A key trait of the Stones this league season has been their blistering starts - Will Day scored within a minute the week prior against Folkestone, for instance. There was no blistering of the opposition on their travels this weekend, however. Maidstone began affairs lethargically. The opening fifteen minutes were defined by Gore Court possession, albeit they didn't capitalise as well as they perhaps should have done in their failings to convert possession to shots on goal.

This said, a Gore Court lead was an inevitability, such was the MHC start. A penalty corner saw Aaron Glass squeeze one into the left corner of the goal. This was, in some ways, the wake up that Maidstone needed. Gore Court pressed the visitors high, which at times saw the defence under pressure in their own twenty-five. On the contrary, when the Gore Court press was beaten, MHC were able to fly towards goal with numbers. A fast transition around the back from right to left led to Ben Stott receiving the ball on the halfway line. His perfectly weighted pass into the middle of the pitch was met willingly by a strong-leading Rob Clarkson. Clarkson dribbled his way to the baseline before finding an on-rushing Chris Howson who bundled the ball over for his eighth of the season.

Five minutes later, MHC earned a lead through a vintage counter-attack. A Tom Elstone jab tackle prevented a Gore Court forward mustering an effort at goal, this fell to Mark Christmas who coolly played the ball out the D and so the counter-attack ensued. Moving it with haste and efficiency, the Stones found Zach Quinn who galloped into the D before offering a bobbling effort at goal. The shot would likely have been saved but for Tom Starling's luscious deflection on the reverse - this touch lifted the ball into the top left corner. A really well taken goal which sees the returning Stone double his league tally for the season.

In fairness, Maidstone's half-time lead was possibly undeserved. While Gore Court hadn't troubled the MHC goal with shot after short, Maidstone had simply not been anywhere near their best - an improved second half performance was demanded by Dean Wheeler.

In short, Maidstone didn't deliver on this. Gore Court equalised through a tame Aaron Glass short corner effort that took couple of deflections before, rather innocuously, crossing the line.

A period of stalemate occurred as both sides threw numbers forward but never forced efforts at goal that troubled either keeper. This was, until, MHC earned their first short corner of the second half. Chris Howson and Cam Knight had gone back-and-forth with their drag flicking efforts in the first half, but Howson took the reigns for this one. With a well executed push out and trap secured, Howson skipped onto the stationary ball and cannoned it into the right hand corner of the goal. 3-2.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived. A Gore Court pass from their left-hand side took a deflection which lifted the ball into the D at shoulder height. This was trapped well by a willing home forward, he brought it down to set up a half volley shot which he took with back to goal. No sooner had the crunch off of the stick echoed aground Sittingbourne, had the ball hit the right-hand side backboard. Stalemate again.

In the last play of the game, Maidstone earned themselves a short corner. All ten outfielders gathered around the D with the sole intention of scrambling a ball over the line in whatever fashion felt appropriate. Chris Howson struck a good drag flick to his favoured right post again, but this time it was met by Aaron Glass who pulled strongly over deep fine leg to avoid the ball entering the goal for a winner. Alas, it was not to be.

Maidstone remain in 7th, and Gore Court in 6th. This one felt like a real missed opportunity as a win would have seen the side rise to 4th and back sniffing the toes of the top three. Holcombe are to be hosted next week, they sit in fourth but are just one point better off than the Stones.