George Elokobi said Sam Corne’s injury-time equaliser for Maidstone on Tuesday night was worthy of winning the World Cup.

Skipper Corne volleyed home from a late corner as the Stones drew 3-3 at Bath City in a rearranged National League South match.

United trailed to an early Scott Wilson goal but went 2-1 up with Ben Brookes’ penalty and a cracking strike from Antony Papadopoulos.

Back came the Romans as Luke Russe levelled before half time and they led 3-2 through Jordan Alves during the second half.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men after Jack Batten brought down debutant Greg Cundle and Maidstone preserved their unbeaten away record when Corne struck at the death, moving up to 11th place.

“We’ve shown the character, that resilience we’ve been talking about when our backs are against the wall,” boss Elokobi told Stones TV.

“Credit to our players because they kept going, they kept believing and Sam Corne scored a goal that is worthy of winning the World Cup, in my opinion, or the European Championship.”

However, Elokobi stressed that Corne needs more support from his team-mates.

He added: “I can’t keep saying this about one or two players carrying the team and digging us out of trouble.

“Mr Reliable, Sam Corne, is always there to try and help the team as a captain and it’s important others take those leadership skills from him and help him out as well because we’re not helping ourselves, there’s not enough communication on that pitch, there’s not enough leadership.”

Two of Bath’s goals were easily avoidable, with Elokobi branding the defending for their third “laughable”.

He wants the team to tighten up at the back, with Maidstone off to Salisbury on Saturday (3pm) before hosting Eastbourne on Tuesday (7.45pm).

“We keep going over the same messages and it’s becoming a little bit tiring because it’s either lack of concentration or absorbing information, and our job is to keep drumming it in until we start getting it right.

“It’s uncertainties in the backline and I’ve got to look into that and make sure we find the right balance because at this moment in time, we’ve got a bit of a shaky defensive line.

“We’ve got to sort it out because we keep hurting ourselves and giving ourselves a mountain to climb.”