By Tom Howe at the Truro City Stadium
NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH (SATURDAY)
Truro City 0 Maidstone United 2
TRURO City suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Maidstone United, a result that saw them drop to fourth in the National League South standings.
In front of a bumper pre-festive crowd of 1,721 at the Truro City Stadium, the hosts were undone by key moments either side of the half-time oranges.
The first blow came in the 23rd minute when a long-range strike from Anthony Papadopoulos beat Dan Lavercombe to give the Kent visitors the lead.
City looked brighter after the break and pressed forward in search of an equaliser but their efforts were in vain. With 18 minutes remaining, Matt Rush slid a shot past Lavercombe to seal all three points.
Manager John Askey made a single change from the goalless draw at Dorking Wanderers last time out, with Dan Rooney starting in place of Yassine En-Neyah who dropped out of the squad completely.
Both sides found it difficult to settle during a rather laboured opening ten minutes. Maidstone were the quicker to find their feet though, with Aaron Blair working some space for himself before shooting wide of the mark.
Sam Sanders and Tom Harrison each came to City’s rescue with a pair of crucial blocks but they could do nothing to prevent the Stones going ahead soon after, with a diving Lavercombe diverting Papadopoulos’ effort into the top corner.
Although the Tinners sought to regain control, they were unable to stem the momentum of a confident opposition, who came into the game on a run of 12 league games unbeaten. Indeed, they were fortunate not to fall further behind moments later, as Blair’s effort rattled the crossbar.
Sanders proved his proficiency at both ends, bringing an acrobatic save out of ex-City custodian Alexis Andre Jnr, but the referee Harry Warner’s whistle had already blown as a result of a handball decision in the build up.
City imposed themselves better at the beginning of the second half, with the in-form Jaze Kabia coming close to an equaliser on the stretch, his invention leading to the ball landing on the roof of the net.
He came close again, heading a Riley-Lowe free-kick wide, a trick repeated by team mate Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain from his captain’s corner.
It wasn’t quite clicking for City with boss Askey opting to change things, with Andrew Neal and Tylor Love-Holmes introduced to the fray.
It didn’t quite have the desired effect however as moments later, Rush swept in Maidstone’s second and left City with a proverbial mountain to climb, that they were ultimately unable to conquer.
The Tinners will dust themselves down and look to regroup ahead of their visit to struggling St Albans on Saturday (3pm), ahead of preparing for what are sure to be Christmas crackers against fellow high-flyers Weston-super-Mare (home) and new league leaders Torquay United (away).
TRURO CITY: Lavercombe; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Harrison (Adelsbury, 85), Sanders; Andoh (Love-Holmes, 65), Rooney, Dean, Palfrey (Neal, 65), Riley-Lowe (capt); Harvey, Kabia. Subs not used: Johnson-Fisher, Yetton.
MAIDSTONE UNITED: Andre Jr; Seaman, Eweka, Fowler, Brooks; Papadopoulos, Higgs (Bentley, 87), Gurung; Wanjau-Smith (Brown, 87), Blair, Rush (Coulthirst, 90). Subs not used: Holden, Court.
Referee: Harry Warner
Attendance: 1,721