Survival of the fittest as sixth tier Maidstone savour Cup fairytale

Maidstone forward Lamar Reynolds credited the gruelling fitness sessions of manager George Elokobi for their sensational run to the last 16 of the FA Cup.

The National League South club, in England's sixth tier, etched their name into FA Cup folklore on Saturday with a remarkable 2-1 victory over Ipswich, who were 98 places above the visitors before kick-off at Portman Road.

It was Maidstone's seventh tie of the competition and their reward is a trip to Sheffield Wednesday or Coventry for a place in the quarter-finals.

After beating Barrow, Stevenage and now Championship promotion hopefuls Ipswich, Reynolds paid tribute to ex-Wolves defender Elokobi.

“Who would have thought it? But like the gaffer said, you've got to believe and we believed,” Reynolds insisted.

“We probably had not much possession but took our chances, got the victory in the end and the 12th man on the side gave us the second wind and the third wind to get us over the line.

“Our gaffer, you all know his background and he is very tough, especially his training routines.

“He always wants us to be the fittest because if you're fitter than the opposition, you probably have more chance of winning the game.

“With the programmes he has put into us from when he played, it has really helped us gain that edge. We stuck around them. I wouldn't say we're as fit as them but we kept up with them and got the win."

Elokobi insisted he always believed Maidstone could cause an upset in front of their 4,472 travelling fans and drummed that into the squad.

Stones also ditched training on their artificial surface at Gallagher Stadium to prepare for the Ipswich clash on grass, with Elokobi going as far as to get them to train on the same size pitch as at Portman Road.

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