Maidstone 3 (Rush 4′, Fall 49′, Corne 87′)
United 2 (Hall 17′), Marshall 78′) There was late heartbreak for United in Kent on Tuesday evening, as a late winner saw Maidstone emerge with all three points. An early goal from Matt Rush saw Torquay chasing the game, however Asa Hall soon levelled matters up. Another early effort at the start of the second, this time from Mo Faal, saw the hosts restore their lead, before The Gulls once again restored parity, this time through Ross Marshall. Sadly it was Maidstone who had the last laugh however, as home skipper Sam Corne grabbed his side a late winner. Gary Johnson rang the changes following Saturday’s 0-4 home defeat at the hands of St Albans, with new signing Arkell Jude-Boyd joining fit-again duo Marshall and Duane Ofori-Acheampong, skipper Hall, and back-from suspension pair Will Jenkins Davies and Dean Moxey in the starting XI. Unfortunately, those wholesale changes failed to prevent The Gulls falling a goal behind in just the 4th minute. An attack down the left wing saw the ball laid into the path of Rush, and with the striker’s run taking him inside the penalty area, his low finish past the advancing Mark Halstead saw the ball find its way into the back of the net, and give The Stones a perfect start. Looking for instant response, a long throw found its target in the shape of Will Jenkins Davis’ head five minutes later, however his header was unfortunately straight at Lucas Covolan in the home goal. On 17 minutes, Hall came to his side’s aid. A flick from Acheampong presented the recalled Gulls captain with the opportunity to restore parity, and despite home calls for offside, Hall calmly fired home from close range to make it 1-1.
The equaliser certainly lifted Johnson’s men, and following Hall’s goal the match became an increasingly open affair, with both sides enjoying periods of possession. A dangerous left-wing cross from Liam Sole nearly fed Rush for another chance inside the box, but this time Halstead’s presence was enough to see the Maidstone striker head wide of the target. With four minutes of the first half remaining, it was Torquay’s turn to threaten, with a deep free-kick into the 18-yard box falling kindly for Acheampong, with the big striker seeing two shots charged down, with Hall just unable to connect with the loose ball. Acheampong was proving a real handful for The Stones’ defence, and his flick produced one more chance just before the change of ends, with Dan Martin feeding Jenkins Davies to fire in a shot from 15 yards that was deflected behind. There was still time for Mark Halstead to come up with a marvellous smothering save from Sole to keep Torquay on level terms, but it was honours-even at the break, and rightly so. When the second period got underway, it was Torquay who began on the front foot.
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