Maidstone United 0 Aveley 2 match report: Back-to-back defeats for the Stones in National League South

Maidstone limped to defeat against Aveley on a sombre night at the Gallagher Stadium.

There was a minute’s silence before kick-off in memory of ex-Stones midfielder Devonte Aransibia following the announcement of his death at the age of 26.

Of the starting XI, Reiss Greenidge, George Fowler and Riley Court played with Aransibia at Maidstone last season, while Jordan Higgs linked up with him at Tonbridge.

Aveley’s Razzaq Coleman De-Graft was also a team-mate at the Gallagher Stadium before his move to the Millers.

Maidstone, beaten 1-0 at Slough on Saturday, simply didn’t get going in front of their home crowd.

And the struggling visitors made them pay with two goals in quick succession as George Elokobi’s side slipped to back-to-back defeats in a setback to their National League South promotion push.

The opener came in the 15th minute Hamza Semakula’s ball into the six-yard box hooked home by Tyreese Owen with keeper Alexis Andre Jr stuck on his line.

Two minutes later, Brooklyn Kabongolo was gifted a simple finish from close range as Maidstone switched off from a corner.

Coleman De-Graft fired over from 20 yards as Aveley threatened a third while the hosts’ only real chance saw Aaron Blair fire tamely at James Holden after bringing down a ball in the box.

Maidstone responded with a triple change at half-time with Sol Wanjau-Smith, Arjanit Krasniqi and Ben Brookes replacing Riley Court, Tayt Trusty and Baylin Johnson.

A Brookes free-kick before the hour mark was met by Ricardo German at the near post but keeper Holden made an excellent reaction save.

There was a big blow for the Stones when defender Temi Eweka was stretchered off following a collision in the Aveley box.

Fans in the Genco Stand sang his name while the big