Sam Corne’s 66th minute winner saw National League South’s Maidstone United stun Ipswich Town 2-1 at Portman Road in the Fourth Round of 2023-24 FA Cup.
Corne netted a 66th minute winner after he latched onto Lamar Reynolds’ short pass on a quick attack, with his goal extending Maidstone’s fairytale cup run.
Ipswich had earlier levelled through Jeremy Sarmiento’s strike in the 56th minute after Reynolds had put the sixth-tier visitors ahead at half-time through his 43rd minute chipped strike on a counter-attack from Liam Sole’s through-ball.
Maidstone now will discover their Fifth Round opposition when the draw takes place at circa 2pm GMT tomorrow (28 January), live on ITV1 in the UK.
Speaking to BBC One post-match, Corne commented: “I don’t think I’ve got the words to describe it.
“We had belief and it showed on the pitch, that desire to put our bodies on the line.
“The manager said we had to have that belief not to sit too deep, to counter attack and if we did concede we may be able to nick another one and we did that.”
With almost 100 places between Ipswich and Maidstone in the English Football pyramid, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that the Tractor Boys began brightest with their superior quality amidst ten changes to the team which drew 1-1 at Leicester in the Championship last Monday.
Ipswich however soon learned that this tie would be far from straightforward as they might of thought as Sarmiento and Omari Hutchinson both saw shots denied by Lucas Covolan.
Hutchinson further found himself frustrated as he hit the post in the eighth minute before another shot six minutes later was saved by Covolan, whilst George Edmundsson headed over from the subsequent corner and again in the 21st minute after another of Hutchinson’s shots was blocked.
Sam Morsy meanwhile saw two strikes denied as Covolan blocked his 17th minute shot, before the ex Middlesbrough midfielder curled another shot over the top-left corner in the 32nd minute.
Brighton loanee, Sarmiento saw a long-range strike deflected over the bar by Paul Appiah, as Ipswich continued to find themselves frustrated with ten minutes of the first half left despite their dominance.
Their wasteful finishing of just four out of 17 shots converted onto target eventually was punished in the 43rd minute, with Sole’s through ball collected by Reynolds who chipped into an empty goal over the exposed Christian Walton to put the sixth-tier team ahead at half-time.
That scare sparked Ipswich into life upon the restart as they desperately chased an early equaliser which came in the 56th minute, after Jack Taylor won possession and quickly slipped the ball through for Sarmiento to side-step into space and fire into the left corner to restore parity.
Ipswich substitute, Conor Chaplin almost doubled their lead three minutes later from a Leif Davis free-kick but smashed his side-footed shot over the bar.
Chaplin’s miss soon was punished in the 66th minute as Reynolds turned provider, with a short pass which Corne latched onto and calmly rifled in beyond Walton’s reach to restore Maidstone’s lead.
Morsy and Harry Clarke saw chances to equalise for Ipswich denied before Edmondsson was fouled by Manny Duku in the 76th minute, yet referee – Anthony Taylor dismissed penalty appeals and instead booked Edmondsson.
Ipswich won a 84th minute corner after Corne blocked Leif Davis’ free-kick which allowed Chaplin to nod the set-piece onto goal but Covolan made a crucial flap down, which triggered a goalmouth melee that the Brazilian goalkeeper ultimately saved.
Maidstone eventually survived eight minutes of injury-time to secure their spot in the last 16 where a glamour tie against the likes of Manchester City, Bournemouth or Liverpool could await.
Their win also saw Maidstone become the first sixth-tier club to reach the Fifth Round since Blyth Spartans in 1977-78 season, in which their run were ended by Wrexham on that occasion following a replay which is no longer the case.
What’s Next?
Ipswich turn their attention back towards their automatic promotion bid in the Championship on Saturday 3 February, with a trip to Preston North End in a 3pm GMT kick-off at Deepdale.
Maidstone meanwhile host Punjab United in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday 30 January in a 7:45pm kick-off at Gallagher Stadium.
Teams
Ipswich: Christian Walton, Dominic Ball (Clarke 57′), Axel Tuanzebe, George Edmundsson, Cameron Humphreys (Davis 57′), Sam Morsy, Jack Taylor, Omari Hutchinson (Burns 68′), Sone Aluko (Chaplin 57′), Jeremy Sarmiento (Buabo 69′), Nathan Broadhead
Substitutes: Harry Clarke, Leif Davis, Luke Woolfenden, Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin, Marcus Harness, Cieran Slicker, Lewis Travis, Gerard Buabo
Maidstone: Lucas Covolan, Gavin Hoyte, George Fowler, Sam Bone (Iandolo 74′), Paul Appiah, Hector Kyprianou, Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong (Gurung 63′), Liam Sole (Greenidge 59′), Sam Corne, Lamar Reynolds (Court 74′), Manny Duku
Substitutes: Chi Ezennolim, Reiss Greenidge, Harley Earle, Riley Court, Sol Wanjau-Smith, Bivesh Gurung, Perri Iandolo
Referee – Anthony Taylor
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