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Don’t panic was the message from Hakan Hayrettin as Maidstone saw off Poole Town in the FA Trophy.
The Stones always looked on top against their Southern League opponents but had to wait until midway through the second half to break the deadlock.
Right-back Gavin Hoyte was the scorer and substitute Ibrahim Olutade added a second as Hayrettin’s side overcame a tricky test to reach round three.
“I told them not to panic - don’t panic,” said boss Hayrettin.
“If you start panicking you’re going to lose the game, you’ve got to stay on point, be focused and do the things we’ve asked you to do and you’ll get a result and we did that.
“We asked Gavin Hoyte and Noah Chesmain to push 10 yards further forward.
“Gavin’s proved that today with a great strike and the substitutes were made for a reason, and Olutade’s got his goal.”
With a blank weekend followed by a spell in isolation after a positive Covid test, Maidstone hadn’t played since December 1.
Poole, unbeaten in Southern League Premier South, presented a stern test.
Hayrettin said: “They’re top of their league for a reason, they’re a very good team, they’ve got some players on loan from pro clubs, especially the lad up front on loan from Bournemouth.
“From my point of view my team hasn’t played for two weeks, we’ve had a case of Covid, we came back and did a couple of training sessions and did a professional job to win 2-0.
"Their No.9 said ‘I was playing against a couple of brutes at the back there’ but it is what it is, the boys have got to do a job and we did a job.
“Higher echelons of the football world, especially this country, have lost games to teams at a lower level. We’re no different but today was a day to get the job done.
“I think it was professional job done, everybody contributed, we managed the game second half and we were a little bit more forward-thinking to get the result.
“They’ve got nothing to lose, so they contested every decision, which is normal, whereas we need to stay calm and stay focused.
“They want to get under your skin, disturb what you’ve got, upset the apple cart and maybe ruffle a few feathers where the players will lose their discipline and concentration.
“I didn’t let that happen, I told my players they’ve got to stay on point, they’ve got to be focused and they did that.”
