Gills battle bravely at the Gallagher but are beaten by Maidstone.
A young Gills side battled hard against Maidstone United at the Gallagher Stadium but were eliminated from the Kent Senior Cup following a 2-0 defeat.
Two goals in the first-half proved enough for the hosts to qualify for the next round, although Ronald Sithole and Kieron Agbebi did have great chances in the second half to try and reduce the deficit.
Mark Moss, as expected, named mainly `B` team players in his matchday squad with Alex Giles and Sam Gale partnering each other in the heart of defence. Josh Chambers and second-year apprentice, Stan Skipper, adopted the central midfield areas while Kieron Agbebi, Matt Macarthur and Ronald Sithole provided the attacking options.
Gavin Hoyte, the former Gills defender, started for Maidstone with former QPR midfielder, Michael Petrasso, among the subs.
There was very little, if anything, to separate the teams in the opening 15 minutes with neither side wanting to offer early openings.
A couple of early free-kicks for the hosts in positive areas went to waste with Gills defence resisting any meaningful pressure.
On 18 minutes the first opportunity was created, and it fell for the visitors when Macarthur stole possession inside the opposition half and he sprinted towards the box. Sithole did his best to get up alongside, but wasn’t there in time to receive the ball. Matty’s shot was blocked, it came back out to Sithole who also saw a shot blocked.
Kai Garrett and Stan Skipper also saw efforts come off the backs of Maidstone defenders as the team retreated to protect their goal.
Those missed chances proved costly when a few minutes later Maidstone were awarded a penalty for a foul on Sam Bone by Harry Webster. Devonte Aransibia kept his composure and sent Holtam the wrong way from the spot to give the hosts the advantage.
Just after the half hour mark Taite Holtam was called upon when a corner from the right hand side was met by Hoyte. His header was on target but the keeper watched it all the way and gathered well.
Prior to the interval a Maidstone strike from range had plenty of power on it, but it cleared the bar by a yard. However, Sol Wanjau-Smith bagged a second when Maidstone countered at pace. Perri Iandolo waited until the last moment to pick out the striker to his left who found the empty net from close range.
H/T: Maidstone 2-0 Gillingham
The second half played out much like the first had, with Maidstone bossing possession and Gills having to keep disciplined and carve out opportunities on the break.
Wanjau-Smith had two chances in a matter of moments. His first, an excellent effort which was curled around Holtam went narrowly wide of the post before his second, far more clear cut, saw Holtam come out to narrow the gap and make a brilliant save when the Maidstone striker looked destined to score.
Gills best chance of the game fell to Kieron Agbebi on 68 minutes. Orji had the ball on the right hand side and produced an excellent cross for the forward who was unmarked 12 yards from goal. He didn’t quite set himself properly and as a result didn’t make the desired contact and his header went wide.
Wanjau-Smith’s toe poke following an effort from outside the box went just wide before Gills created an excellent chance when a ball into the left channel set Sithole away. He beat the offside trap, drove towards goal and his effort for the far corner was very well saved by Harley Earle.
FT: Maidstone 2-0 Gillingham
Maidstone: Earle, Hoyte, Fowler, Brown, Coleman de-Craft (Amantchi 70), Corne, Wanjau-Smith, Aransibia, Bone (Court 46), Sole, Iandolo (Petrasso 81)
Unused subs: Covolan, Smith
Gills: Holtam, Orji, Gale, Giles, Webster (Bayliss 73) Skipper, Chambers, Garrett (Taiwo-Pratt 46), Sithole, Agbebi, Macarthur, Sithole.
Unused subs: T Smith, Woodliffe, de Wilde
Attendance: 1487
Referee: Mr N Dunn