Horsham 1 - Maidstone Utd 2

Report by Charlie Hempstead

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“Robbery” and “Lucky, lucky, lucky”.

Those were the post-match assessments of, respectively, a Maidstone supporter and a member of their media team after the league leaders returned to Kent with the points from a game in which Horsham had the better of things for most of the afternoon.

Behind at the interval to a questionable penalty, converted by Nana Boateng, the Hornets equalised within seconds of the restart through Charlie Hester-Cook and were well on top throughout the half until a defensive error gifted Tom Leahy a late winner.

A third successive home league defeat was an injustice for the hosts, who more than matched their lofty opponents but were undone by conceding two soft goals and missing a clutch of presentable chances.

On his side’s return to league action following the defeat at Plymouth Parkway last time out, Dom Di Paola made just the one change, restoring Danny Barker to the starting lineup with Ronan Silva dropping to the bench.

Without a win in four matches in all competitions, Maidstone boss Craig Fagan made a couple of changes of his own, handing starts to skipper George Fowler and ex-Hornet Leone Gravata.

There was little to choose between the sides in the opening quarter of the match, with neither side mustering an on-target effort until the 22nd minute, when Ashley Nadesan was harshly adjudged by the assistant referee to have fouled Riley Court and Boateng rolled home the penalty. The replay confirmed that Nadesan played the ball cleanly, with minimal contact on the Maidstone player.

The Hornets responded well and were on the front foot for the remainder of the half, without creating any clear chances. In fact, the nearest either side came to scoring was at the other end, when goalkeeper Michael Dike sold Lee Harding short with a pass that almost allowed Gravata to steal in, but Ryan Bartley sorted matters out to ensure that half-time was reached with just the one goal separating the sides.

Half-time: Horsham 0 Maidstone United 1

If Horsham were feeling hard done by at being behind, they didn’t show it. The Stones kicked off, the Hornets gained possession and with the clock showing that just 36 seconds of the second half had elapsed, Reece Meekums delivered a perfect cross for Hester-Cook to guide home with a glancing header.

The Hornets were buoyed by being level, but it was the Stones who threatened next when a neat one-two between Boating and Leahy left the former in the clear, but he rushed his shot from the edge of the penalty area and skied it over the bar.

If that was a let-off for the hosts, the visitors enjoyed one of their own three minutes later when a lovely move started by Bartley and continued by Jamie Yila ended with Hester-Cook arriving at pace but he could not control his near-post volley and the ball cleared the crossbar by inches.

Horsham continued to press and two more glorious chances went begging within seconds of each other. First, Yila’s close-range effort was superbly blocked by the lunging Taylor Foran, then Jack Brivio skipped into the penalty area, evoking memories of his previous incarnation as an attacking midfielder, but his first touch was heavy and gave goalkeeper Lenny Holden the chance to smother his effort.

A Ken Charles volley wide of goal was the Stones’ only real response as they struggled to maintain possession for any length of time, and the Hornets were quickly back on the offensive when a Hester-Cook run took him deep into the penalty area, where he went down under challenge. There looked to be at least as much in it as the one that was given Maidstone’s way in the first half, but Mr Willmore saw it differently and waved away the appeals.

Dike made a routine save from a Ryan Hanson header with 10 minutes left, but that was an isolated attacking moment for the Stones, who were probably thinking that a point would be a good outcome at that stage.

Things were about to become a whole lot better for the leaders, though. Brivio appeared to have the situation under control as a long punt forward sailed over the Horsham back line and the skipper nodded the ball back to Dike. There was not quite enough on the header for it to reach the goalkeeper comfortably, and a momentary hesitation allowed the predatory Leahy to steal in and walk the ball into the net for his sixth goal of the season.

To quote the Maidstone media team again, the goal came ‘out of nowhere’.

Horsham threw on Harry Hedges for Barker in search of a late leveller, and the substitute had a fleeting glimpse of glory when a lovely cross from Bartley picked him out, but the youngster failed to make contact, the moment was gone, and with it the Hornets’ hopes of gaining some reward for an excellent display.