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Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna paid full credit to Maidstone following the National League South side’s shock FA Cup Fourth Round win on Saturday.
Goals from Lamar Reynolds and Sam Corne either side of Jeremy Sarmiento’s equaliser led the Stones to a famous 2-1 victory at a club that won the FA Cup in 1978.
“First of all, it’s full credit to Maidstone, it’s a fantastic day for them, they worked ever so hard for it,” said McKenna.
“Of course, they rode their luck as well, but they were very, very clinical and they showed a fantastic spirit to get the result.
“It’s a bad day for us and it’s a lot of disappointment and we’re going to have to live with that and produce a response next week.
“I thought we started ever so well, I can’t really fault the attitude. We prepared the game well, we started terrifically and that’s irrespective of the level of the opponent.
“I thought it was a really good start to the game, we had big chances, we hit the woodwork a couple of times, the keeper produced some fantastic saves and the longer the game goes on like that, our belief drops a little bit.
“They defended with more resolution and at that stage they’re hoping for a moment and they got it.
“We had an injury on the edge of the box that we should have communicated better on the pitch. They broke away and got the goal that really put the tie to life for them.
“I think we’ve had 38 shots on goal, the opposition have had two, we need to be, of course, much more clinical than we were. They were incredibly clinical with their two and they defended with great resolution in their goal and full credit to them for that.”
McKenna felt Sarmiento was fouled ahead of Maidstone’s second goal: “I thought there was a pretty clear foul that led to the ball being given away.
“Having said that, their reaction was faster than ours to break for the goal and again, it was a really good finish. But I thought it was a foul.”
Town also appeared to have a shout for a penalty in the second half when George Edmundson went down in the box, Premier League referee Anthony Taylor instead booking the Blues defender for a dive.
“I haven’t seen the replay, it looked like it (was a penalty) live, to be honest,” McKenna said. “Maybe the fall can sometimes go against you, but it looked like his foot was kicked at the time but I haven’t seen it back.”
The result illustrated that the magic of the FA Cup is still alive with shocks still happening every year.
“We really didn’t want to be on the end of one and we prepared the game well and respected the opponent and did some good things in the game,” McKenna reflected.
“But that’s cup competitions, it happens every year, it happens all over the world, it’s happened to better teams than us before in terms of being knocked out by a side in the lower reaches, and it’s Maidstone’s day.
“Of course, We’ve had lots of good days over the last couple of years here, we’ve not had too many bad ones, but today is their day and they deserve to enjoy their celebrations and we wish them all the best for the next round.”
Maidstone fan falls from stand celebrating FA Cup winner
McKenna made 10 changes, as he has so often in cup matches, but felt that wasn’t a factor in the defeat.
“We’ve been consistent with that,” he said. “We did it for Wolves in the Carabao Cup this year, for example and won the game.
“We’ve utilised the squad in the cup competitions, it’s a necessity for us really with the competition and the level that we’re competing with in the Championship this year and with how much of a stretch that is for our players.
“We need to utilise the squad, we utilise it every game in the league, to be honest, we make five subs pretty much every game and we utilise it in the cup competitions.
“We’ve been consistent with that. I think the team today, certainly had the quality to win the game.
“I think we created more than enough chances to win the game. Many aspects of the performance were good enough to win the game, apart from the most important bits, which is putting the ball in the net and stopping them doing it. That’s why we’re out of the cup.”
