Maidstone United defender Temi Eweka says winner and clean sheet on debut the best way to announce himself to fans

It was fitting that Maidstone’s first summer signing should score the winner on his debut.

Temi Eweka’s 89th-minute header secured a 1-0 victory at St Albans on the opening day of the National League South season.

He’d been the first man through the door back in early May, joining from league rivals Slough.

His arrival signalled a summer of change as boss George Elokobi overhauled a squad who reached the play-off semi-finals last season.

The 25-year-old joked about feeling lonely as he waited for new team-mates to join him.

“I was waiting for Corney (captain Sam Corne) to make a group chat,” he said.

“I thought we were going to have a five-a-side team and then everyone started rolling in.”

Centre-half Eweka certainly felt the love on Saturday after his late header from Ben Brookes’ corner as players piled in to celebrate in front of the travelling fans.

“You couldn’t write it,” said the former Maidenhead man.

“It’s the best way to announce yourself to the fans - a clean sheet and a goal on your debut.

“In these leagues you’ve just got to find a way to win and since I’ve come here I know we’ve got enough to win.

“When you look around the changing room we’ve got the capability to win 5-0 and we’ve got the capability to win 1-0.

“We just had to get off to a winning start by any means, whether it was going to come in the first minute or the 90th minute.

“The first six or seven weeks of the season is a sprint. You have to see how many points you can accumulate and go from there.”

Stones boss Elokobi wants more goals from his defenders and Eweka hopes it’s a sign of things to come.

He added: “Yes, it’s important to keep clean sheets as a defender but it’s not every week Aaron Blair’s going to score a hat-trick or Shaq