Maidstone United midfielder Sam Bone says his hometown club’s FA Cup run beats winning the FAI Cup with St Patrick’s in Ireland | The Stones visit Coventry City in round five tonight

Sam Bone’s FA Cup run with Maidstone has already eclipsed winning the equivalent competition in Ireland.

Bone was in the St Patrick’s team who beat Bohemians on penalties in the 2021 FAI Cup final.

They won the shoot-out 4-3 after a 1-1 draw in front of more than 37,000 people at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

It was the highlight of a memorable six-year stay in Ireland for Bone, who also had spells with Shamrock Rovers, Waterford and Dundalk.

He’ll never forget that final triumph with Pats but the underdog fairytale back in England with hometown club Maidstone has surpassed even that.

When he signed for a struggling Stones side January last year, he could never have imagined that 12 months later he’d part of a team winning 2-1 at Ipswich in the FA Cup fourth round.

“The FA Cup is a completely different experience to the FAI Cup,” said Bone, who’s set to line up at Coventry in round five tonight.

“You’re one of the big teams in that cup when you’re in Ireland. If you’re playing for a big team, the expectation is to get to the final.

“Anything other than that, if you get knocked out in the quarters or semis, you’re really disappointed.

“It’s different with the FA Cup where we’re huge underdogs and we’ve created three huge upsets.

“I think the Ipswich game edges it, albeit when we won the final in the FAI Cup it was incredible.

“I had my family there and to play in front of 37,000 it was really special.

“The most recent FAI Cup final was a few months back and I remember sitting there watching it.

“It was the same two teams - Pats against Bohs.

“I was sat there with a bit of jealousy because it’s such a special occasion and I knew what the boys would be feeling.

“I have fond memories and it’s something I’ll look back on at