Maidstone United manager George Elokobi’s verdict on 3-1 victory at Tonbridge Angels as his side go third in National League South

George Elokobi praised a “commanding” second-half performance after Maidstone took the derby honours at Tonbridge.

Elokobi’s side are up to third in National League South, two points behind leaders Torquay, after winning 3-1 at Longmead on Boxing Day.

The Stones boss wasn’t overly impressed with the first-half display, for while George Fowler scored after only 68 seconds, Tonbridge grew into the game and levelled through Liam Vincent.

But Elokobi liked what he saw after the break as Aaron Blair’s 25-yard cracker and an injury-time third from Matt Bentley extended their unbeaten run to 16 games.

“Credit to Tonbridge, they made it hard for us,” said Elokobi.

“We knew it was a tough place to come and get a result and our players were fully prepared to make sure they carry on with the positive results we’ve been getting.

“I thought it was a commanding second half and rightly so the best team won.”

Elokobi saw Maidstone make the perfect start with Fowler’s early opener but he ended up making some tactical adjustments at half-time after Angels found their way into the derby.

“I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t think after the first 15 minutes we actually controlled territory and possession,” said Elokobi.

“I thought we were a little bit careless in our passes and we weren’t working hard enough out of possession.

“We weren’t running harder to make angles for one another but you get this – obviously our players must have had a good Christmas.

“I thought coming in at half-time 1-1 was a fair score and you have to give credit where it’s due, Tonbridge pushed us and we didn’t look after those basics, defending our box and making sure we meet things instead of waiting for things to drop and react.

“But we spoke about it, we helped the