MAIDSTONE UTD (A) PREVIEW BY Steve Harris

TT PREVIEW

Steve Harris – @steveharris84

Steve Harris previews the game at Maidstone

MAIDSTONE UNITED VS TORQUAY UNITED

Venue: The Gallagher Stadium, Maidstone

Date: Saturday 27th August, 2022

Kick-off: 3pm

CURRENT FORM

Torquay: D,W,L,L

Maidstone: W,D,L,L

HEAD TO HEAD

Torquay: 1

Draw: 2

Maidstone (incl. original Maidstone Utd): 8

MAIDSTONE FACTFILE

Year founded: 1992 (as Maidstone Invicta)

Nickname: The Stones

Last season’s league finish: 1st in National League South

Notable Honours:

National League South:

Winners: 2021-22

Isthmian League:

Winners 2014-15

MANAGER: HAKAN HAYRETTIN

Some eagle-eyed Gulls’ fans may remember Hakan Hayrettin from his brief loan spell at Plainmoor during the 1992-93 season from Barnet. Hayrettin then went on to have spells with Wycombe Wanderers, Cambridge United, Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough United before dropping into the South East non-league scene.

As a manager, Hayrettin had spells in charge of Waltham Forest, Thurrock and Grays Athletic before accepting a position as part of John Still’s backroom team at Luton Town in 2013. He then had two spells as manager of Braintree – one permanent, one interim – prior to his appointment as Stones boss in 2019 and led the club back to the National League in the 2021-22 season as champions.

PLAYER TO WATCH: ROARIE DEACON

After first coming to prominence with Sutton United in the 2016-17 season during their FA Cup run, which saw them eliminated by Arsenal in the fifth round, Roarie Deacon now finds himself back in the National League with Maidstone. He earned himself a move to the Scottish Premiership with Dundee in the summer of 2017, where he remained until January 2019 when he returned to Sutton. A spell with Havant and Waterlooville followed before he joined the Stones in June 2021, and he went on to help Maidstone clinch the National League South title in the 2021-22 season.

DEACON STATS:

Position: Left Midfield

Date of Birth: 12th October, 1991 – 30 Years Old

Birthplace: London

Height: 1.70m

Former Clubs: Arsenal, Sunderland, Stevenage, Crawley, Sutton, Dundee, Havant

NL Stats 22-23: Played 4, Goals Scored 0, Yellow/Red 1/0

OLD BOYS

Torquay: Shaun Donnellan

Maidstone: None

PREVIOUS HEAD TO HEAD

MAIDSTONE UNITED 1-0 TORQUAY UNITED

9th November, 2019

Dan Wishart’s first-half goal proved enough to hand Maidstone a surprise win over Torquay as the National League South side made it into the second round of the FA Cup.

National League Torquay fell at this stage of the competition last season to Woking and will be disappointed they did not take their chances on the road.

The home side broke through after just 18 minutes. Defender Wishart’s low driven ball was deflected, deceiving Gulls goalkeeper Lucas Covolan and found the far corner of the goal.

Seven minutes later, a tackle on Torquay left-back Liam Davis left him taken away on a stretcher.

After 34 minutes, it looked like Maidstone might be given a penalty after Wishart went down but referee Joe Hull pointed the other way.

Gambian Saidou Khan had a chance to extend Maidstone’s lead 10 minutes from time, but his shot was just wide of the upright.

Both sides failed to do enough with their second-half pressure in the rain, and ultimately time fell away in favour of the home team.