Maidstone United manager George Elokobi’s reaction to extraordinary 5-4 National League South victory over Hornchurch at the Gallagher Stadium

Manager George Elokobi somehow stayed calm during Maidstone’s “crazy” nine-goal thriller against Hornchurch.

A chaotic first half at the Gallagher Stadium on Easter Monday ended 4-4 after the Stones led 3-0 and 4-2.

Elokobi’s interval reset paid dividends as the hosts tightened up defensively and scored the only goal of the second half to win an extraordinary match 5-4.

John Gilbert, Riley Court and Hamzad Kargbo gave Maidstone a commanding lead inside 12 minutes against an Urchins side harboring National South title ambitions.

The visitors responded as Josh Rees and early substitute Angelo Balanta got Daryl McMahon’s side back into the game, only for Taylor Foran to add United’s fourth.

Further goals from Rees and Balanta squared the match but Stones skipper Corne won it before the hour mark.

Elokobi compared the drama to last season’s 2-1 play-off semi-final victory at Eastbourne Borough, when 10-man Maidstone scored an unlikely late winner through Aaron Blair when the odds were stacked against them.

“As a manager, here, at home, it’s the craziest game I’ve been involved in,” said Elokobi.

“We had the Eastbourne game last season, with the chaos, but today we knew what we were coming up against with the experience and the squad that Hornchurch have got.

“We had to make sure we respected the opposition and tried to nullify their strengths.

“We came out of the blocks and we knew they weren’t going to cope if we played on the front foot and were positive with our actions, in and out of possession, and controlled territory.

“I thought every time we went forward in the first 20-25 minutes we looked like we were going to get another goal. It’s prompted Hornchurch to shuffle the pack, and rightly so, which was good.

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