There was, perhaps, little surprise that Bromley and Maidstone cancelled each other out during the 80 minutes of normal time as the two sides had met only seven days earlier in the league.

It was down to some expert goalkeeping at either end coupled with wayward finishing that meant the final at Sheppey’s Holm Park needed extra-time to find a winner.

The dangerous Ashley Tshitenga made the breakthrough at the end of the first period of extra-time, a second goal arriving in stoppage-time of the second period through Kian Downey.

Bromley manager Matt Griffiths changed formation for extra-time and it worked.

“It was a game of two halves, Maidstone really came at us in the first half when we were against the weather so to come in at 0-0 was a bit of an achievement.

“Second half we were superb and just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

“We changed our system. When we played them last week we were 1-0 down at half-time so went to three at the back and ended up winning 4-1. That scoreline didn’t reflect how good a side Maidstone are, though.

“We made that change again. We’ve only played it for 45 minutes before today but we did it again and it really paid off.

“We said to Ashley that there will be a moment when you can put the ball in the net. He’s a prolific finisher, he just lacked that little bit in normal time but in extra-time he did his job.”

First-half chances were at a premium, although player-of-the-match George Hill in the Bromley goal produced a fantastic save to keep out Sonny Jackson’s header from a right-wing free-kick.

Akshar Santhosh dragged his shot wide for the Stones before Hill comfortably gathered Ollie South’s long-range attempt.

After the break a dazzling run by Tshitenga saw him pull the ball back for Theo Egbri but his shot was saved by keeper Lucas Brookman.

Maidstone’s Archie McCarthy drove into the penalty area but his pull back was not converted by Logan Wallace. Harrison Fryer shot straight at Hill who then denied Santhosh again.

Bromley’s Tshitenga had a golden chance to win the tie with seven minutes left but was thwarted by Brookman as Bromley finished the tie looking strong.

That said, their chances had been limited thanks mainly to an excellent defensive display by Maidstone centre-back Alfee Wincott, who never put a foot wrong at the back.

Tshitenga’s shot in extra-time went wide of the far post as he declined to cross but it mattered little in the 90th minute when he finally made the breakthrough, driving into the penalty area before drilling home to put Bromley ahead.

Hill made another fine save to deny Akash Santhosh and McCarthy shot over as Maidstone pressed for an equaliser. But Bromley made the game safe in the third minute of stoppages when Tshitenga broke and the ball fell nicely for Downey to score into an empty net.

Bromley: George Hill, Harry Duncan, Tommy Buttell, Frankie Humphries, Jimmie Basquine, Jack Power, Jermaine Essien, Kian Downey, Pharell Spooner, Theo Egbri, Ashley Tshitenga, Kendall Henry, Nathan Patten, Jack Connelly, Vaqcasei Paul-Soleyn, Oware Sarkodee.

Maidstone: Lucas Brookman, Reuben Jones, Archie McCarthy, Alfee Wincott, Ollie South, Akash Santhosh, Archie Dobbin, Sonny Jackson, Dylan Simpson, Logan Wllace, Akshar Santhosh, Michael Gewitzke, Sam Fletcher, Harrison Fryer, Jack Kennedy.

Referee: Ayden Gillespie.