Maidstone United 2 Kingstonian 1

A GOAL seven minutes from time by Ryan Royston gave Maidstone a priceless victory as they home in on the Ryman League Division 1 South title on Saturday.

The Stones had taken a first half lead when Aaron Lacey's free-kick was headed in by Errison Ahwan following a horrendous goalkeeper error by Kingstonian's Luke Garrard.

Garrard made a suicidal run for the ball and Ahwan's innocuous header looped into the net before the defenders had a chance to clear.

Maidstone were well on top but the jitters that have characterised their play in the past month returned two minutes after the restart when Mario McNish turned a harmless cross from Kingstonian's Neil Lampton into his own net.

The Stones responded by creating a number of chances but the closest they came to sciring was when Ahwan's headers was cleared off the line on 69 minutes.

Just when it looked as if Maidstone would never break the deadlock Lacey whipped a ball into the area, Lyden Rowland headed it back across goal and Royston picked his spot.

Having regained their composure, United comfortably saw out the final seven minutes and now have one hand on the title trophy.

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