Jay Saunders was certain Chelmsford’s winning penalty shouldn’t have been awarded.

Stones left-back Tom Mills appeared to take the ball off Hugo Skepelhorn but referee Lloyd Wood decided otherwise and Lee Sawyer scored as City pinched a 1-0 victory on Bank Holiday Monday.

Maidstone boss Saunders said: “The annoying thing is it’s not a penalty. It’s never been a penalty.

“Admittedly, when I first saw it, I thought ‘has he caught it?’ but Millsy and Lee Worgan have said he’s won the ball as cleanly as you can and knocked it back to Worgs.

“The referee seemed so eager to give the penalty it was ridiculous and I thought everything went their way in the first half, which was annoying.”

United missed the chance to level when Alex Akrofi hit the post with a second-half penalty.

Saunders couldn’t see an equaliser coming, despite their dominance, and questioned his team selection.

He said: “I think we could have played until 10pm and not scored. I’ve asked Lee Worgan how many shots he’s had to save and I don’t think he’s had any but it’s the way it’s going for us at the moment.

“To come away with nothing is very hard to take. Again we’ve played a side and not been outclassed. We’ve not been caused major problems, it’s just getting that mix right in the final third.

“I think at the moment we’ve not had that real quality and maybe that’s me to blame.

“Maybe I’ve not got it right with regards to keep chopping and changing but I’ve tried to keep things fresh and mix it up.

“Maybe I’ll have to give the same XI five or six games and go ‘there you go, go out and get settled’ but I thought it was the right thing to do.

“Fair play to Chelmsford. They’ve come here, set up well, worked really hard and defended their area well and we didn’t get much out of them.”