Ellis Simms’ hat-trick and Fabio Tavares’ brace saw Coventry thrash sixth-tier Maidstone United to reach the 2023-24 FA Cup Quarter-Finals.
Simms opened the scoring with a ninth minute strike from Kasey Palmer’s slip-through pass, before the pair combined five minutes later as the ex Sunderland striker netted his second goal from Palmer’s diagonal pass.
Palmer attempted to add a goal himself in the 35th minute but his shot was deflected by Lucas Covolan for Simms to smash in his third goal on the rebound, which saw the 23 year-old complete his hat-trick.
Fabio Tavares added a late brace as Mark Robins’ Sky Blues cruised to a comfortable victory over sixth-tier Maidstone, which ended the Non League team’s fairytale run.
Coventry will discover their Quarter-Final opposition on Wednesday 28 February at 7pm GMT live on ITV4 in the UK.
After their shock Fourth Round win over Ipswich, Maidstone knew that another giant killing was possible but Coventry quickly proved to be a match for the sixth-tier club as the Sky Blues swiftly sized control of the match as Haji Wright forced a fourth minute save from Covolan.
Wright’s chance proved to be an early warning that Coventry weren’t looking to follow in Ipswich’s footsteps, which soon proved fruiticious in the ninth minute as Palmer picked up a pass from Liam Kelly’s interception and teed up Simms to fire in beyond Covolan.
Coventry quickly sought to kill off the threat of a Maidstone comeback and got their reward five minutes later as the ball found Palmer, who was free to thread a diagonal pass across for Simms to calmly rifle into the far bottom-right corner.
Maidstone refused to settle for defeat but were given a huge scare in the 21st minute as George Fowler’s clearance hit teammate – Reiss Greenidge’s forehead, and almost looped into the top-right corner of their own net only to narrowly fly over the top.
Liam Sole managed Maidstone’s first shot on target in the 26th minute after he picked up Raphe Brown’s cross, yet the 24 year-old could only curl wide of the top-right corner.
Sole’s wasted chance to reignite Maidstone’s game was soon punished nine minutes later after Liam Kelly played a long ball towards Palmer, yet Covolan was able to block Palmer’s long-range shot but the ball fell for Simms to smash in on the rebound to put Coventry in firm control.
Simms’ rebound strike also completed his first senior hat-trick as Mark Robins’ Sky Blues protected their three-goal lead into half-time.
Despite the introduction of Callum O’Hare to replace Wright in the second half, Coventry continued to push for a fourth goal but O’Hare’s effort just four minutes into the restart was comfortably saved by Covolan.
Maidstone on the other hand had everything to do to keep their fairytale run alive and went close in the 51st minute, with Lamar Reynolds’ strike lashed into the side-netting of the left corner.
Covolan however was the stand-out player for the sixth-tier club as he kept out Simms’ 54th minute header from Jake Bidwell’s cross, then saved Palmer’s 65th minute curled effort from Victor Torp’s initial pass.
Coventry ultimately saw the game out with a fourth goal as Tavares fired in from Matty Godden’s 88th minute pass to complete a comfortable victory, just days after a lacklustre Championship defeat to Preston on their home turf.
Tavares further extended Maidstone’s misery in the second minute of injury-time as he reacted quickest to Covolan’s block of Godden’s shot to lash in from close-range, which completed one of Coventry’s finest performances this season.
Speaking to ITV4 post-match, Simms is delighted with his team’s performance as he explained: “It’s amazing to get this far – we want to keep going and see how far we can get.
“We prepared well for the game. We had a disappointing result the other night and had to put it right tonight. We prepared as if it were a league game. We were ruthless tonight.
“I am delighted on a personal note – my first senior hat-trick. Hopefully I can get more.
On who he wishes to face in the Quarter-Finals, Simms fired a warning as he quipped: “We’ll see who we get in the draw. We are not underestimating anyone. There are a lot of big teams left in the competition.”
What’s Next?
Coventry now turn their attention back to the Championship as they visit West Bromwich Albion on Friday 1 March (8pm GMT) in a huge clash in the play-off race.
Maidstone return their focus to the National League South where they are currently in their own play-off race, with a trip to Dover Athletic to come on Saturday 2 March at 3pm.
Teams
Coventry: Ben Wilson, Joel Latibeaudiere, Bobby Thomas, Liam Kitching, Jake Bidwell (Dasilva 78′), Liam Kelly, Victor Torp (Eccles 67′), Kasey Palmer (Van Ewijk 67′), Fabio Tavares, Ellis Simms (Godden 66′), Haji Wright (O’Hare 45′)
Substitutes: Luke Bell, Luis Binks, Jay Dasilva, Callum O’Hare, Matty Godden, Milan van Ewijk, Dermi Lusala, Josh Eccles, Kai Andrews
Maidstone: Lucas Covolan, Raphe Brown (Hoyte 69′), George Fowler, Reiss Greenidge, Harry Kyprianou (Ezennolim 69′), Liam Sole (Gurung 69′), Sam Corne, Sam Bone, Lamar Reynolds, Manny Duku (Court 80′), Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong
Substitutes: Gavin Hoyte, Chibuike Ezennolim, Harley Earle, Riley Court, Solomon Smith, Bivesh Gurung, Perri Iandolo
Referee – Michael Salisbury
Leave a Reply