Post by malcolm on Oct 1, 2023 15:34:59 GMT 1
Winchester went out of the F A Cup, but they gave a good account of themselves against a Maidstone United team are full time and in the playoff places in the National League South.
There was a Maidstone United team that played in the football league for three years, but this club disbanded and they reformed and as Maidstone Invicta made rapid progress through the Kent Leagues and changing their name to Maidstone United in 2001 they reached the National League South in 2015 and have remained a National League club ever since spending four seasons in the Premier Division of this league.
The clubs had in fact met in the 2005/06 F A Cup with Maidstone winning 3-0 on Winchester's ground. Both teams went into this match having won 4-1 in the previous round, but whereas Winchester were seeking to reach the fourth qualifying round of the F A Cup for only the second time in 58 years, Maidstone had reached the 1st round proper in each of the consecutive seasons from 2014/15 to 2019/20.
Winchester made two changes to the starting line-up from Tuesday with Charlie Philpott replacing the cup-tied Luke Cairney in goal and Max Smith replacing Jamie Ba.Barron who after going off injured on Tuesday was on the substitutes bench
In the first half Winchester had a lot of possession, and gave a good account of themselves against their higher division opponents, but during the game's first period the goalkeepers only had to make routine saves with Chi Ezennolim forcing a save from Philpott early on and Simba Mlambo forcing a save from Lucas Covlan towards the end of the half. Lamar Reynolds and Sol Wanjau-Smith, the latter with a header had efforts that were not far off target.
However Maidstone took the lead right at the start of the second half when Amantchi scored his first goal with an effort from Sa m Bone hitting the post and the ball hitting Amantchi on the rebound. The second came five minutes later when Harry Kyprianou played Amantchi through and he was able to draw Winchester goalkeeper Charlie Philpott out of position before shooting into the empty net. Between the two goals Josh McCormick attempted to lob the goalkeeper, but his effort was just wide.
It could easily have been 3-0 midway through the second half, but Sol Wanjau-Smith's penalty hit the underside of the bar and bounced out. To their credit Winchester kept battling and they bought on three attacking substitutes in Warren Bentley, Ollie Balmer and Conor Lynch in a determined effort to wind a way back into the game with Caborn, I K Hill the players going off. However although they had a lot of the ball and they used the flanks well and Bentley having one shot that was fractionally off target they could not find the goal that would have set up an interesting finale and Maidstone still looked dangerous on the break in the latter stages of the second half.
Winchester manager Craig Davis said after the game "We more than matched them for long periods of the game, but were beaten by a good team". Maidstone were pleased to be through to the next round and acknowledged that Winchester had given them a decent game. In fact after the game Craig Davis shook hands with players of both teams as did a member of the Maidstone management team, and both teams wished their opponents well for the remainder of the season, In summary though Winchester's F A Cup hopes were ended by two goals in five minutes from Maidstone's leading goalscorer.
The match was sponsored by Winchester Hotel and Spa.
Winchester are at home to Hungerford in the F A Trophy on Saturday
There was a Maidstone United team that played in the football league for three years, but this club disbanded and they reformed and as Maidstone Invicta made rapid progress through the Kent Leagues and changing their name to Maidstone United in 2001 they reached the National League South in 2015 and have remained a National League club ever since spending four seasons in the Premier Division of this league.
The clubs had in fact met in the 2005/06 F A Cup with Maidstone winning 3-0 on Winchester's ground. Both teams went into this match having won 4-1 in the previous round, but whereas Winchester were seeking to reach the fourth qualifying round of the F A Cup for only the second time in 58 years, Maidstone had reached the 1st round proper in each of the consecutive seasons from 2014/15 to 2019/20.
Winchester made two changes to the starting line-up from Tuesday with Charlie Philpott replacing the cup-tied Luke Cairney in goal and Max Smith replacing Jamie Ba.Barron who after going off injured on Tuesday was on the substitutes bench
In the first half Winchester had a lot of possession, and gave a good account of themselves against their higher division opponents, but during the game's first period the goalkeepers only had to make routine saves with Chi Ezennolim forcing a save from Philpott early on and Simba Mlambo forcing a save from Lucas Covlan towards the end of the half. Lamar Reynolds and Sol Wanjau-Smith, the latter with a header had efforts that were not far off target.
However Maidstone took the lead right at the start of the second half when Amantchi scored his first goal with an effort from Sa m Bone hitting the post and the ball hitting Amantchi on the rebound. The second came five minutes later when Harry Kyprianou played Amantchi through and he was able to draw Winchester goalkeeper Charlie Philpott out of position before shooting into the empty net. Between the two goals Josh McCormick attempted to lob the goalkeeper, but his effort was just wide.
It could easily have been 3-0 midway through the second half, but Sol Wanjau-Smith's penalty hit the underside of the bar and bounced out. To their credit Winchester kept battling and they bought on three attacking substitutes in Warren Bentley, Ollie Balmer and Conor Lynch in a determined effort to wind a way back into the game with Caborn, I K Hill the players going off. However although they had a lot of the ball and they used the flanks well and Bentley having one shot that was fractionally off target they could not find the goal that would have set up an interesting finale and Maidstone still looked dangerous on the break in the latter stages of the second half.
Winchester manager Craig Davis said after the game "We more than matched them for long periods of the game, but were beaten by a good team". Maidstone were pleased to be through to the next round and acknowledged that Winchester had given them a decent game. In fact after the game Craig Davis shook hands with players of both teams as did a member of the Maidstone management team, and both teams wished their opponents well for the remainder of the season, In summary though Winchester's F A Cup hopes were ended by two goals in five minutes from Maidstone's leading goalscorer.
The match was sponsored by Winchester Hotel and Spa.
Winchester are at home to Hungerford in the F A Trophy on Saturday