Sam Bone’s FA Cup run with Maidstone has already eclipsed winning the equivalent competition in Ireland. Bone was in the St Patrick’s team who beat Bohemians on penalties in the 2021 FAI Cup final.
They won the shoot-out 4-3 after a 1-1 draw in front of more than 37,000 people at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. It was the highlight of a memorable six-year stay in Ireland for Bone, who also had spells with Shamrock Rovers, Waterford and Dundalk.
He’ll never forget that final triumph with Pats but the underdog fairytale back in England with hometown club Maidstone has surpassed even that.
When he signed for a struggling Stones side January last year, he could never have imagined that 12 months later he’d part of a team winning 2-1 at Ipswich in the FA Cup fourth round. “The FA Cup is a completely different experience to the FAI Cup,” said Bone, who’s set to line up at Coventry in round five tonight. “You’re one of the big teams in that cup when you’re in Ireland.