Maidstone United captain Gavin Hoyte’s unfinished business in FA Cup | Defender recalls last-16 meeting with Chelsea while on loan at Watford from Arsenal
Published: 05:00, 02 November 2023
Skipper Gavin Hoyte has unfinished business in the FA Cup with Maidstone.
Hoyte is set to captain the Stones when they visit Southern League Chesham in the First Round on Saturday (3pm).
He was in the side who threatened an upset at League 1 Blackpool in a Second-Round tie four years ago.
Maidstone led at half-time through Saidou Khan’s wonder goal as boos rang out for the hosts but they trailed 3-1 after 51 minutes and that’s how it finished.
Hoyte is the only survivor from the starting XI as Sam Corne was out injured while George Elokobi has moved into the dugout as Maidstone manager.
“It was a missed opportunity that day - 100%,” said Hoyte, who reached the last 16 with Watford in 2009.
“You make one mistake and these teams higher up punish you. Once they get that first goal, that’s it.
“It shouldn’t happen but your head goes down a bit and it gives them an extra boost.
“First half, their crowd were booing them.
“We got ourselves in front and you’ve just got to try and hold on as long as you can.
“After the way we played in the first half, you’re thinking, ‘Come on, boys, only 45 minutes and that’s a big upset’ but they were flying in League 1 and we couldn’t hold on.”
Maidstone upset Torquay - then top of the National League - to set up the Blackpool tie.
This time, however, they are favourites to reach the Second Round against lower-league opposition.
Chesham are no mugs, though, sitting third in Southern League Premier South - a division below the Stones.
“The goal is to get promoted but to go on a cup run as well and we’ve got an opportunity to do it,” said Hoyte.
“Obviously Chesham isn’t going to be an easy game.
“They’re on a good run but we’re the higher team and we want to put our stamp on the game and get into the next round. Everyone’s up for it.
“For some of the boys, this is the furthest they’ve been in the FA Cup and we want to get as far as we can.
“It’s one game at a time but we’ve got an opportunity to reach the Second Round if we go there and do a professional job.”
Maidstone are 10 games unbeaten in all competitions but will need to improve on their performance in the 1-1 league draw at Weston last weekend.
Boss Elokobi was unimpressed and made his point at training on Tuesday.
“We had a talk about what happened, what we felt went wrong,” said Hoyte.
“We went through a few things in the meeting and the boys’ reaction was very good.
“Sometimes people can get a bit disheartened but everyone was on it in training, so that’s a good sign.
“Nobody took what was said to heart. We took it on board and put it into practice in training.
“We’ve all got a job to do, we all want to be successful and that’s the only way you’re going to do it.”
Hoyte was on loan at Watford from Arsenal when the Hornets reached the Fifth Round in 2009.
After wins over Scunthorpe and Crystal Palace, the young right-back looked set to be part of a major upset when Brendan Rodgers’ side led Chelsea 1-0 at Vicarage Road.
But Nicolas Anelka scored a hat-trick in the final 15 minutes and Chelsea would go on to beat Everton in the final.
“Fifth round was the highest I played,” said Hoyte, 33.
“It’s funny because we went 1-0 up and then they turned it on and it was a different game.
“At the time they’d just sacked their manager (Luiz Felipe Scolari replaced by Guus Hiddink) and our manager was Brendan Rodgers, who’d been the youth-team manager at Chelsea.
“It was a lot different because I was at Arsenal back then and Watford wasn’t what it is now.
“It was completely different going from Arsenal to Watford but a very good experience.
“I was in and out of the team but Brendan Rodgers was great with me.
“He had Frank Lampard Sr as one of his coaches and he used to be on to me all the time about doing extra work after training.
“That was good because I was a young boy of 18 and I learnt a lot from that.”
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Craig Tucker