A five goal showing at Enfield Town on the final day of season wasn’t enough to see the outside chance of claiming top spot come to fruition, with Truro City taking care of business relatively early against St Albans City to see the league title head to the west country.

In fact, all six teams that were in with a chance of lifting the title heading into the final day all won comfortably, meaning it was as you were and the Reds had to settle for fourth place finish, albeit only one point adrift of the champions.

Maidstone went into the final day knowing that – barring an unlikely swing in goal difference between them and Weston-super-mare – they would finish seventh and came from behind twice to eventually draw 2-2 at Farnborough.

The opposition

The Stones are in the second season back in step 2 following relegation from the National League in 2023, finishing in the play-off places on both occasions.

They started this season showing and both themselves in lower-mid table after a quarter of the season but a mid-season run that saw them go 18 matches undefeated propelled them into second.

A difficult February ultimately cost the chance of fighting for the title but they ended the campaign strongly, only losing one of the last eleven matches.

They lost just four matches away from home in the league all season and picked up just as many points on the road (39) as they did at home (40).

Manager

United are managed by George Elokobi, a former Premier League player with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After ending his playing career at the Gallagher Stadium, he stepped in as caretaker manager following the departure of Hakan Hayrettin in January 2023, before being appointed permanently two months later.

Last season, on top of a fourth placed finish, he memorably guided the Stones to the fifth round of the FA Cup, overcoming Championship leaders Ipswich Town on the way.

Key Player

Forward Aaron Blair joined United last summer having helped Braintree Town secure promotion from National League South, scoring in his side’s dramatic 4-3 win over the Rebels at Woodside Road.

Blair has added to his reputation as a proven goalscorer at the level by netting 17 times in the league this season.

Form

Last 6

Sat 29 Mar – Boreham Wood (H) – Won 4-0
Sat 5 Apr – Weston-super-Mare (A) Lost 0-3
Sat 12 Apr – Weymouth (H) – Drew 0-0
Fri 18 Apr – Welling United (H) – Won 4-0
Mon 21 Apr – Tonbridge Angels (H) – Drew 1-1
Sat 26 Apr – Farnborough – Drew 2-2

Previous meetings

The Reds won the reverse fixture 2-1 at the Gallagher Stadium, thanks to an own goal and a strike by Mo Faal against his former club.

It was the same result at Woodside Road when the two sides met in the play-off semi-final 12 months ago. Two goals by Ollie Pearce, the second deep into stoppage time sent the Rebels to brink of the National League before defeat to Braintree in the final.

Current Reds Mo Faal and Lucas Covolan lined up for the Stones that day.

Team news

Manager Chris Agutter remains without experienced defenders Aarran Racine and Sam Beard who are both serving three-match suspensions. Both would be available for the play-off final should the Reds get there.

Joe Partington and Sam Packham who deputised in Saturday’s 5-1 win at Enfield Town look set to continue in defence.

Goalkeeper Chris Haigh returned to the starting line-up at the Dave Bryant Stadium for the first time since February’s 4-0 defeat to Slough Town.

Tickets

A reminder that this match is all-ticket and sold out. Please do not travel to the ground without a valid ticket.

Match Sponsor

Tonight’s match has been kindly sponsored by ELEVETE Hub — a supportive space created specifically for ambitious HR professionals who want more from their careers.

Find out more about ELEVEATE Hub on their website.

How to follow

If you’re unable to travel to north London you can listen live to the club’s official match commentary service on Mixlr, or follow updates via the our X/Twitter account.