Maidstone manager Jay Saunders praised Vas Karagiannis after a sparkling home debut.

The Greek winger scored the opener and laid on the winner for Jamie Coyle as Stones beat Eastbourne 2-1 at the Gallagher on Monday.

After two away games, a record home crowd of almost 2,700 got their first look at the former Leatherhead man - and he went off to a big ovation when replaced by Matt Bodkin late in the second half.

Boss Saunders said: "He was good. He tired for the last 15 or 20 minutes and said he had to come off, which I don’t mind.

"He’s a little way off the fitness levels he needs to be at and we will get him there but there were plenty of positives.

"He is one of those players who whenever he gets the ball he’s looking to get a shot off or get a cross in.

"He had a couple of great strikes, obviously the goal and he's hit the crossbar, and he’s put in some great balls from corners and crosses."

Saunders also picked out Callum Driver, who set up Karagiannis' goal and had his best game in weeks getting forward from right-back.

The manager added: "Callum had an unbelievable start to the season.

"He dropped off it for the last few weeks and for me he needed that performance.

"Hopefully that’ll give him loads of confidence and we can move on."

Victory moved Stones back up to second place in National South and ended a run of four 1-0 defeats in league and cup.

Saunders said: "You just want to get another win on the board.

"Obviously we went on a long unbeaten run, went up to second in the league, then you lose a couple and it’s panic stations.

"It’s one of them, you need three points on the table, you need a half-decent performance to get everyone’s confidence back."