Goal mouth action from Saturday's Kent derby between Margate and Maidstone United at Hartsdown Park. Picture: Paul Amos.

Margate failed to do the festive season double over Kent neighbours Maidstone, going down to a 1-0 home defeat on Saturday.

On a bitterly cold afternoon at Hartsdown Park, neither side managed to come to terms with the conditions. A first half of few talking points and chances finished rather unsurprisingly goalless.

But, the travelling supporters who did brave the freezing conditions were rewarded for their patience on 68 minutes when Stones striker Danny Hockton broke the deadlock.

Margate keeper Matt Reed was at fault as he failed to hang on to a Nick Barnes corner. Reed dropped the ball at the Hockton's feet, who showed a striker's instinct to finish inside the six yard box.

Stones midfielder James Peacock was then given his marching orders for a second yellow card, kicking the ball away after a free kick was given against him.

Despite the man advantage, Margate couldn't find a way through the Stones defence as they did in a 1-0 win against the same opposition on Boxing Day.

Gate boss Mark Butler admits his side failed to keep concentration for 90 minutes.

He said: "It was disappointing today as Maidstone were a bit more street wise than us and it's taken one mistake to settle the game.

"An error lead to the goal and that's what's most frustrating as Matt Reed had a smashing afternoon apart from that. We played well in patches, but we didn't quite have the cutting edge in the final third.

"On another day we possibly could've come away with the odd goal or knicked a point, but we weren't up to our normal standard today."