Raphe Brown did the business at both ends of the pitch as Maidstone secured a play-off place.

Brown’s thumping second-half header gave United the victory they needed at Farnborough to be certain of finishing in the National League South top seven.

But he was equally impressive in his main role alongside Reiss Greenidge and Paul Appiah in the back three as United stood up to a direct home side whose long throws were capable of wreaking havoc in the box.

Brown was manager George Elokobi’s man-of-the-match at Cherrywood Road and it was certainly a day to remember for the centre-half.

“It’s all about how you start,” he said.

“The first couple of duels I won comfortably and that kind of eases you into the game.

“You feel like, ‘Yeah, I can do this today’ and you keep doing it and pushing and pushing. It was good.

“It was a tough game with the conditions.

“They’re very direct at times, which is hard to deal with when it’s windy and you’re being pummelled with long throws and long goal-kicks at times, but we did our jobs.

“Concentration was a big part of it.

“If you switch off they’ll throw it in behind or maybe mix it up and go short, so you have to be ready to see what they’re going to do.”

Brown nearly scored with a first-half header - keeper Jack Turner with a decent save - but he got his goal 13 minutes from time after meeting a corner from captain Sam Corne.

“That first header gave me the motivation to go for my goal,” said Brown. “The gaffer said at half-time, if you just mean and go for the ball, you can get a goal.

“I listened to what he said and got a good connection.

“As soon as it left my head, I knew it was the one.

“It’s nice to score the goal that gets us in the play-offs but winning is all that matters.

“To play well personally is good but as long as the team are winning, that’s the main thing.

“It’s been a long season but we’ve stuck together as a squad and we’ve all done well when needed.

“We’ve still got to finish as high as we can in the last three games to get a home draw in the play-offs.

“We’ll see what happens but we’re the team in form and we know we can beat anyone on our day.”

It will be a first play-off campaign for Brown, who was part of the Stones team who won the National League South title under Hakan Hayrettin two years ago.

You can’t beat the drama of the play-offs - Maidstone know that only too well as a club following their 2016 thriller against Ebbsfleet - and a top-seven finish represents a fine season on top of their run to the FA Cup last 16.

Brown said: “I’ve never been involved in the play-offs before.

“My second season here we got promoted, so I know what that feels like.

“Getting promoted this way would be another feeling and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“As a player, I had no concerns after going out of the FA Cup.

“The cup run was a major high, so I can understand why people might think there could be a hangover, but we’ve just focused on winning each game.”