Horsham 0 Maidstone United 0 match report: Stones’ National League South play-off hopes remain in the balance after goalless draw

Maidstone claimed another point towards their National League South play-off bid with a draw at Horsham.

George Fowler went closest for the visitors in a goalless draw at the Hop East Stadium when his second-half header brought out the best in Hornets keeper Lewis Carey.

But neither side could break the deadlock and the Stones’ play-off hopes remain in the balance with two matches remaining, two points outside the top seven.

Maidstone were unchanged from the side who beat Hornchurch 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller on Easter Monday.

The teams would have been going some to match that game for entertainment and there was little of note for fans of either side to get too excited about in a tight first half.

Hamzad Kargbo had the ball in the net for Maidstone from a Sam Corne cross but the flag went up for offside and the big striker was booked for catching Carey.

It seemed harsh, with the ball there to be won.

Riley Court sent a 20-yard free-kick over the bar for United while, at the other end, Lenny Holden got down well to turn Charlie Hester-Cook’s deflected strike past the post.

The resulting corner reached Hester-Cook at the back stick but he couldn’t direct on his header on target.

Hester-Cook was involved again on the half-hour mark, dispossessing Jephte Tanga and launching a counter-attack, from which Leone Gravata’s effort was blocked by Lexus Beeden.

Maidstone replaced Kargbo with Jamie Yila at the break.

There was more urgency about the visitors’ play, moving the ball quicker, while Yila’s trickery was giving the Horsham defence a different problem to think about.

TJ Bramble headed over from a Court corner as Maidstone threatened to make their promising play count.

Horsham, who saw a dangerous Greg Luer ball