Alex Akrofi scored on his debut as League Cup holders Maidstone fought back from two goals down after seven minutes to beat Cray Wanderers on Tuesday night.

It was a Maidstone old boy who gave the visitors an early cushion in the first-round tie with ex-United skipper Shaun Welford finishing smartly from the edge of the box before taking advantage of a fumble by stand-in keeper Will Godmon at a cross.

But the game turned when Akrofi's run led to a penalty and a red card for Cray's Gary Beckett, with Alex Brown sending Nick Taylor the wrong way from the spot on 17 minutes.

Neat one-touch football from the impressive Bradley Jordan and Charley Robertson sent Akrofi through again soon after but this time he was denied by Taylor.

There was no stopping Akrofi eight minutes into the second half, though, the new man presented with a tap-in from Jordan's cross to make it 2-2.

Jordan controlled a cross and found the far corner for an excellent third goal after 72 minutes.

Taylor then produced the save of the night after Akrofi collected Phil Starkey's pass, turned his man and bent an effort towards the top corner.

CJ Williams-Agunabor sent a late header over for a Cray side whose hopes were ended in injury-time when Liam King won and scored a penalty.

Maidstone: Godmon, Starkey, Kitt, Coyle, Swift, Hayes (Munnery 79mins), Jordan, Brown, Lovell (King 84mins), Akrofi, Robertson. Subs not used: Parkinson, Worgan.

Attendance: 627