Recap
Chesham scored a late late equaliser to preserve their unbeaten away record this season. After a quiet first half in which Chesham took the lead thanks to a defensive error, the game opened up in the second period as Maidstone came to life but Chesham came back and overall a draw was a fair result. Chesham made four changes following last week’s FA Cup win at Cray Valley – Callum Adebiyi, Connor Stevens, Joe Grant and Mitchell Weiss were recalled in place of Steve Brown, Samson Esan, Omar Rowe and Devonte Aransibia. New signing Michael Folivi made his debut as a second-half substitute.
The first half was fairly even with few chances at either end. Home keeper Alexis Andre Jr was called into action early on, with a fine flying save to keep out Nathan Minhas’ shot from wide on the left. On 25 minutes Andre took a goal kick which Jack Cawley headed into the path of Nathan Minhas who shot across goal and past the far post. Maidstone’s best effort of the half came when Temi Eweka headed a Charlie Seaman free kick over the bar, but a goal at either end was looking unlikely until Chesham were gifted the lead on 39 minutes. Andre and George Fowler hesitated over a through ball, Nathan Minhas nipped in and rolled the ball into the unguarded net from just inside the area.
On 50 minutes the home side won their first corner, and Ben Brookes’ kick found Harry Lodovica who miscued his header at the far post. Chesham came back with a fine crossfield pass from Callum Adebiyi to Avan Jones, who pulled the ball back from the by-line to Nathan Minhas whose shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. The game had still to liven up, but on 70 minutes Maidstone made a double substitution which had an immediate effect. Jordan Higgs tried a shot from the edge of the area which deflected off Shaq Coulthirst but Ben Goode made a fine reaction save to keep the ball out. However two minutes later Aaron Blair broke down the home left, cut inside and shot across Ben Goode into the far corner to level the scores. Chesham came back with a long throw from Jack Cawley that ran loose in the home area and Samson Esan’s shot was blocked t the expense of a corner. However the home side were starting to look dangerous for the first time and took the lead on 86 minutes. Higgs and Blair combined on the right and set up Coulthirst who shot left-footed into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the area. Chesham again came back and a 30-yard free kick from Jack Cawley flew just over. The fourth official announced five minutes of stoppage time and in the fifth Chesham won a free kick 30 yards out. Sub Ryan Upward crossed to the far post, Callum Adebiyi drilled the ball back across goal and Joe Grant stuck out a leg and deflected it into the net give Chesham a point.
Match Report
Maidstone United
