Having progressed through two rounds of the FA Youth Cup, the 18’s kicked off their league campaign with a tough home fixture against last years runners up Maidstone Utd.
A cagey opening eventually sprung into life when we put together a superb move down the right, allowing Fate Kotey to open the scoring. Maidstone responded positively and put us under some pressure but we struck again when a lightning break, and an inch perfect through ball allowed Roman Burrell to make it 2-0.
If we thought we were going to ease to victory we were forced into a rethink almost immediately as Maidstone showed their class to bring the score back to 2-1, which is how the sides went into the half time break.
The second half started in a similar vein to the first, with neither side managing to break their opponents rearguard, although we were having the better of the possession. We increased our lead with around 15 minutes remaining. This time, the reliable Matt Hill converting from the spot (something his Forest Row team-mates will be well used to seeing by now).
We effectively sealed the game with eight minutes remaining with Kotey notching his second. The Stones pulled another one back in stoppage time, but we held on to secure a hard-fought 4-2 win.