Maidstone manager Hakan Hayrettin had the last laugh after rival boss Ian Allinson branded his centre-backs ‘numpties’.

The Stones moved four points clear at the top of National South after Johl Powell, whose loan from Charlton has been extended until the end of the season, scored a 96th-minute winner in a 3-2 success against St Albans.

It was particularly satisfying for Hayrettin, who was disappointed with comments made by Allinson about Joe Ellul and George Fowler as the visitors fought back from 2-0 down.

“He called my two centre-backs numpties,” said Hayrettin.

“He said, ‘Get at those two numpties, they’re useless, they can’t run.’ He said it when they scored their first goal.

“I took it in, didn’t say anything.

“He’s a good friend of mine, and I’ve got a lot of respect for him, but we put three goals past his team today.

“We do this job with dignity and pride.

“The minute you drop your guard and start doing things like that, you lose a bit of class.

“But he is a classy man and I’ve got a lot of respect for him. People can say what they want.”

Maidstone were on course for a straightforward victory against an out-of-form St Albans side after Sam Corne and Jerome Binnom-Williams struck inside seven minutes.

City were gifted a way back into the game, with Ellul suffering a rare off-day, which led to his substitution.

But Powell settled a crazy game from fellow substitute Christie Pattisson’s cross as Maidstone extended their advantage over title rivals Dorking.

• Report: Maidstone 3-2 St Albans

Hady Ghandour, the final change, also caused problems, as Hayrettin used his bench to make the difference.

“I wasn’t happy because we turned off after their first goal and went sloppy and lethargic, and we weren’t at the races again until after they scored their second,” said Hayrettin.

“It was like everything we said at half-time, they did something completely different but then last 20 minutes we turned the screw and won the game because of that.

“We made the substitutions and they helped to win us the game.

“I don’t usually make three substitutions close together like that (in the space of eight minutes).

“We shuffled the pack, we had to get Christie on, and get legs in midfield with Johl and I don’t think Jack Barham, however fantastic’s he’s been this season, was quite on it today with his running, so we put Hady on.

“When teams drop off here it’s really difficult for us, there’s no areas, there’s no gaps, but Hady’s link play was good, he dropped in, received the ball and turned, but Christie won us the game to be fair with his pace and power, setting up the goal for Johl.

“We deserve it, don’t we?

“For a team that’s going to continually push till the death, to get a result, we deserve it. Why not?

“I need to do what I need to do to get results and those three boys who came on today helped us get the result.”