On a sweltering afternoon, Maidstone United entertained Welling United in a pre-season friendly and it was the hosts who prevailed with Wings manager Ryan Maxwell pleased with the run out for his side.
Although, the result looked one-sided, that wasn’t the case and Wings’ manager Ryan Maxwell was pleased with the workout. “We got a lot out of it.” he said. “We had pretty much two elevens over the ninety minutes. We started the game well. Their keeper made two great saves from Kaan (Bennett) and Ade (Azeez) and I felt that we were in a good place until they scored. A great little bit of play, individually, by Riley Court, an excellent player that Maidstone have.
“In the first half we had some good passages.” Maxwell continued. “I was quite pleased with most of it. There were bits of play that we need to improve upon. They’re a very ready outfit. They’ve played a few games already and they looked a bit sharper at times but I expected that.”
He made several changes at the break and he felt that it made a difference. He said “At half time we added a bit more pace. Troy (Howard)’s put two great crosses in and their keeper’s made at least one very good save from Ryan (Kingsford) so I was pleased with those two individuals and the impact they made. There were a couple of errors with goals but they weren’t really down to players that are regular for us. The result is secondary. I’m looking for performance and I think that I got that out of them. It was a good physical test and we’ll be better for that.
“We’ve got this one under our belt now and the players know what I think that we need to do next in this phase, because we’re in phases. It’s pre-season and the first games are all about the work ethic more than anything else. On Tuesday, they may get a little more tactical information than what they had today. I wanted a hard pre-season. We had Maidstone away today. We had Braintree, Billericay, Folkestone to play so it is a tough one but that’s the way I wanted it.”
Goalkeeper Mackenzie Foley was unable to participate which gave Maxwell a headache. He explained “Macca unfortunately pulled out last night stroke this morning. We gave him until the morning to see how he felt but his ankle’s swollen up so I had to get on the phone and draft a goalkeeper in and we thank him very much for playing for us today. It’s very difficult for a goalkeeper to come in to a game against good solid opposition. He doesn’t know anybody and it was difficult for him. We do appreciate the fact that he played and Macca thinks that he is four or five days away from being fully fit to play again. Not long term.”
Towards the end of the second half a new signing was unveiled. Maxwell confirmed “We’ve added Tyler Miller-Rodney who came from Billericay. He got promoted last season. He played forty odd games last season. He’s an experienced player. He’s a robust type but he just stepped off the plane yesterday and he came on for fifteen minutes or so and we’re still very much in the gelling process.”
Mistakes were made as is to be expected as Maxwell looks to see what combinations on the field work, and where they can be fitted in to how he wants the team to play. He said “Billy (McMahon) and I will watch the game back three times at least and we’ll analyse what we think, what we see, using our foresight and look forward to Tuesday and act accordingly. I am pleased with the group. There’s lots of good players here. The attitudes are good.”
Three players are injured, but none long term. Maxwell confirmed “Chris (Arthur) is missing. Louis Ramsey’s missing, and Macca. That’s not too bad. Chris is on the way back. Louis has annoyed his calf and I think he’s probably four or five days from featuring. He did the warm up today but it’s too soon to push him.”
Picture supplied by Chris Zimmerman.