PREVIEW

Steve Harris

@steveharris84

MATCH DETAILS

Torquay United versus Maidstone United, FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round

Venue: Plainmoor

Date: Saturday 14th October 2023

Kick-off: 3pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Torquay: 2

Draws: 2

Maidstone: 10

FORM GUIDE

Torquay: W, W, W, L, W, L

Maidstone: L, W, W, W, W, W

TOP SCORERS

Torquay: Aaron Jarvis (6)

Maidstone: Levi Amantchi (6)

MAIDSTONE FACTFILE

Year founded: 1992 (reformed as Maidstone Invicta)

Nickname: The Stones

Last season’s league finish: 24th in the National League

Notable Honours:

National League South:

Winners: 2021-22

Isthmian League:

Winners 2014-15

MANAGER – GEORGE ELOKOBI

Cameroon-born George Elokobi initially took charge of Maidstone on a caretaker basis following the dismissal of Hakan Hayrettin, before he was handed the reins on a permanent basis.

As a player, Elokobi was given his big break in the professional game by Colchester United in 2004, after he was spotted playing for Dulwich Hamlet.

He made his professional debut whilst on loan at Chester City in 2005 and on returning to Colchester Elokobi helped the U’s to win promotion to the Championship under Phil Parkinson in the 2005-06 season.

His displays for Colchester earned him a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2008 and he won two promotions: one from the Championship in 2008-09 and the second from League One in 2013-14. During his time at Molineux, he was loaned out to Nottingham Forest and Bristol City.

Ellokobi was released by Wolves at the end of the 2013-14 campaign and joined Oldham Athletic, where he played under Lee Johnson, son of Gary.

A second spell at Colchester United followed when he re-joined the U’s in 2015, and he later returned to the non-league game with spells in the National League with Leyton Orient and Aldershot Town.

He later joined the Stones in 2019 and helped them to win the National League South title in his final season as a player in the 2021-22 campaign. In addition to this, Elokobi scored in the final game of his career, which saw Maidstone defeat Hampton and Richmond Borough 2-1, to give him the distinction of having scored in every division from the Premier League right down to National League South.

ELOKOBI STATS

Date of Birth: 31/01/86 (37)

Appointed: 24th March 2023

Other Clubs Managed: None

PLAYER TO WATCH – LEVI AMANTCHI

Levi Amantchi signed for Chesterfield as a 17-year-old, he made 11 National League and 3 FA Cup appearances for the Spireites in the 2018-19 season. Whilst at Chesterfield he had a loan spell at Blyth Spartans before signing for Workington. He then joined Darlington in October 2020 before returning to Blyth Spartans.

After spells at Redditch and Potter Bars, he joined Braintree Town in 2022, and scored 6 goals in 14 National League South appearances for the Iron, before moving to Brackley last November where he grabbed another six goals. The striker then left for Maidstone during the summer.

AMANTCHI STATS

Position: Striker

Date of Birth: 26/11/00 (22)

Place of Birth: London

Height: 1.93m

Former Clubs: Chesterfield, Blyth Spartans, Darlington, Workington, Redditch, Potters Bar, Braintree, Brackley

NLS 23/24 Stats: Appearances 11, Goals 6, Yellow/Red Cards 1/0

OLD BOYS

Torquay United: Shaun Donnellan, Ross Marshall

Maidstone: Lucas Covolan

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

Torquay United (4-1-3-2):

Mark Halstead

Shaun Donnellan – Ollie Tomlinson – Dean Moxey – Dan Martin

Brett McGavin

Jack Stobbs – Tom Lapslie – Lewis Collins

Brad Ash – Aaron Jarvis

Maidstone (3-5-2):

Lucas Covolan

Raphe Brown – George Fowler – Reiss Greenidge

Harry Kyprianou – Sam Bone – Michael Petrasso – Sam Corne – Devonte Aransibi

Sol Wanjui-Smith – Levi Amantchi

LAST MEETING

7th October 2023: Torquay United 0-1 Maidstone United – NLS

Maidstone warmed up for their FA Cup clash with Torquay United with a narrow league victory over the ten man Gulls, thanks to a second half strike from Sam Bone.

The Stones enjoyed the majority of the early possession, but arguably the pick of the chances fell to the Gulls on ten minutes when Tom Lapslie nodded a Lewis Collins cross wide – albeit from an offside position.

Moments later, Maidstone’s Michael Petrasso had a powerful strike blocked by United centre back Ollie Tomlinson.

In the 14th minute, Gulls’ winger Jack Stobbs cut inside from the right and attempted a shot from distance, which was deflected over.

Torquay were reduced to ten on the half hour mark when Ross Marshall saw red for a challenge on Sol Wanjau-Smith, after being left in trouble by a poor throw in from Shaun Donnellan, which saw Maidstone awarded a penalty. However, Levi Amantchi’s spot-kick was saved by Gulls’ keeper Mark Halstead.

Five minutes before the break, referee Jack Bloxham issued Maidstone boss George Elokobi with a yellow card.

In spite of their numerical disadvantage, the Gulls almost snatched the lead on 45 minutes when Aaron Jarvis had an angled effort tipped away by the Stones ex Torquay keeper Lucas Covolan.

Within a minute of the restart, Jarvis headed a cross from Brett McGavin off target.

Halstead was then called into action to deny efforts from Bone and Amantchi – as the Stones looked to make their extra man count.

They finally made the break through on 69 minutes when Bone beat Halstead with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

With six minutes to go, Brad Ash looked well placed to equalise, but he lifted his shot over the bar – as the Stones claimed all three points.

XI: 1. Mark Halstead, 4. Tom Lapslie, 6. Ross Marshall, 9. Aaron Jarvis, 10. Lewis Collins, 11. Brad Ash, 14. Brett McGavin (8. Asa Hall, 77′), 16. Shaun Donnellan, 21. Dean Moxey (c) (15. Finley Craske, 80′), 23. Ollie Tomlinson (7. Ryan Hanson, 89′), 27. Jack Stobbs