Stones' 3G Cup dreams set up by Welling victory

The Stones were clear underdogs against Conference Premier side Welling United on Saturday, but turned the tables to book a place in Monday's draw.

They almost made the perfect start when a flustered Michael Chambers squandered possession and Alex Flisher charged forward, before flashing a warning shot across the face of the visitors' goal.

That momentum continued and it only took four minutes for them to get their noses in front.

Flisher caused havoc in the box with a long throw and when the ball came back out, he whipped in an inviting cross which Jack Parkinson gleefully headed into the back of the net to delight the majority of the massive 2,226 crowd.

The Isthmian Premier side weathered a Welling storm at the start of the second half and doubled their lead with a well-executed breakaway goal.

Matt Bodkin and Tom Mills combined well to advance up the pitch, with Mills putting it on a plate for Frannie Collin to notch his 14th goal of the season.

Jake Gallagher reduced the defecit on 53 minutes, but the big boys were unable to find a leveller.

And being labelled as the underdogs certainly suited Maidstone, according to defender Sonny Miles.

He said: "We loved having the underdogs tag because that can take a lot of pressure off for you.

"We are confident of beating anyone at home, so it didn't matter anyway.

"I'd say we deserved the win: we had a few chances at the end to make it more.

"We soaked it up well and dealt with their danger.

"Our back four pulled us through, everyone dug in and we clung on at the end."

Saunders added: "I'm delighted to get through, the lads were outstanding today.

"We put our bodies on the line and worked very hard.

"We didn't give Welling a chance to settle, which was important because we knew that they would like to get it down and pass it about, but we didn't let that happen.

"It was disappointing to concede the goal and we could have gone into our shells, but we kept on going.

"We got off to the perfect start and kept it going.

"We wanted to be quite direct because we knew that was how we would win the game.

"There was a derby feel about the game and there was not a lot of time on the ball.”

And he is excited about the prospect of welcoming a Football League side to the Gallagher Stadium in the next round, with neighbours Gillingham among the big fish set to be included in Monday's draw.

He added: "I'm delighted that this club has got into the First Round Proper.

"We took a big gamble putting the 3G pitch down so if we can get a nice draw on Monday, that will bring some more publicity to our surface.

"I'd love for a Football League club to come down here so that everybody can see how good it is.

"There's always a bit of scepticism about it, but it's an outstanding surface.

"This should help put the club back on the map."