Maidstone were punished for a defensive horror show against Solihull Moors.

Two down inside seven minutes, Blair Turgott’s quick reply should have been the catalyst for a fightback.

But they couldn’t get themselves going and conceded another poor goal with 15 minutes left.

High-flying Solihull were good value for their win.

Big, strong and solid, with quality up front, you can see why Tim Flowers’ side are in the National League play-off places.

For the Stones, this was a third league defeat on the spin and means they remain just outside the bottom four.

Maidstone, unchanged after last week’s FA Cup win over Leyton Orient, fell back into bad habits by conceding two lousy goals early on.

Moors’ opener came in just the second minute on the break from United’s own corner.

Jermaine Hylton fed Danny Wright in acres of space outside the box and he drilled a low shot straight through Lee Worgan.

It was 2-0 in the seventh minute.

This time, Jamey Osborne got the better of Simon Walton and was allowed to continue his run in the box.

He had three players for company but no one made a challenge and he pulled the ball across goal.

Hylton couldn’t score at the back post but Adi Yussuf made no mistake as Moors doubled their lead.

Maidstone were back in business a minute later with Jake Cassidy challenging Yussuf, who stayed down, and finding Turgott who curled in from the edge of the box.

Jack Powell saw a smart shot on the turn saved by Ryan Boot as Maidstone went close to an equaliser while Worgan was out bravely at the feet of Wright to deny Solihull a third.

Moors had Osborne booked for diving in the box under challenge from Jack Paxman - it looked for a moment as though referee Savvas Yianni was going to give the penalty.

Will De Havilland then headed over from Ollie Muldoon’s free-kick before a moment of magic from Paxman saw him play in Turgott whose shot hit the bar.

The Stones got away with one shortly before the break when Paxman was caught out being too clever on the edge of his own box, Seth Nana Twumasi doing enough to put off Hylton.

Maidstone showed little sign of getting back in the game early in the second half.

And desperation crept in when Cassidy blazed a shot into the away fans just past the hour mark.

The Stones seemed short on an ideas against a professional Moors outfit who are difficult to play against.

And they were 3-1 down in the 75th minute after another terrible goal.

Between them, Worgan, Alex Finney and Twumasi got in a mess outside the area and Hylton rolled the ball into the empty net.

Turgott had two shots blocked, seconds apart, as United went close in the last five minutes.

Maidstone: Worgan, Twumasi (Omotayo 79mins), De Havilland, Finney, Doyle (McLennan 85mins), Muldoon (Romain 57mins), Walton, Paxman, Powell, Turgott, Cassidy. Subs: Strizovic, Phillips.

Attendance: 2,106 (38 away).