Non-League Maidstone United stun Ipswich Town in huge FA Cup upset

Maidstone United pulled off one of the great FA Cup upsets on Saturday after downing Ipswich Town – who are four leagues above.

As one of the frontrunners for promotion to the Premier League, Ipswich hosted Maidstone as one of the in-form teams in the Championship and are second in the league.

Maidstone, meanwhile, are fourth in the National League South, which isn’t in the English Football League.

Despite mustering just two shots for the entire game against Ipswich’s 38, the team stunned Ipswich at their own stadium at Portman Road, managing to win 2-1.

Maidstone manager George Elokobi was overcome with emotion after the game finished, admitting there “were a few tears”.

“We’ve come to Ipswich Town, they’re flying high in the Championship, for our group of players to be clapped off and applauded is just amazing,” he told the BBC.

“It’s all about our group of players, our community, history has been made again. It’s the magic of the FA Cup and we had to believe.”

The win means Maidstone will be in the draw for the fifth round, where they could face the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool or Manchester United.

The club had already banked £231,375 in prize money on their way to the fourth round and while they had already knocked out League Two and League One opposition, Ipswich were a step up in class.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna made 10 changes from Monday’s draw at fellow promotion hopefuls Leicester, but it was still one-way traffic early on.

After 43 minutes of near-constant pressure on the Madistone goal, it felt a matter of time before the opener arrived.

It duly did – although, astonishingly, it went to the non-league outfit.

Maidstone broke from a corner and Liam Sole’s lofted pass found Lamar Reynolds, who scooped over Town goalkeeper Christian Walton with his left foot from 18 yards to spark pandemonium.

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Ipswich hit back in the 56th minute when Jeremy Sarmiento curled a shot into the corner.

But it was Maidstone’s Sam Corne who would score the next – and final – goal of the game as Elokobi’s side held on to progress to the fifth round.