Maidstone have knocked old rivals Gillingham out of the Kent Senior Cup for the third time in five years.

Devonte Aransibia’s penalty and a Sol Wanjau-Smith strike gave United a 2-0 victory over a young Gills side in front of almost 1,500 fans at the Gallagher Stadium.

Having met in the quarter-finals and semi-finals in 2018 and 2019 respectively, the clubs were paired in the second-round stage this season.

Maidstone - who’ve won the competition a record 18 times - rested a couple of their main men in goalkeeper Lucas Covolan and leading scorer Levi Amantchi but boss George Elokobi named a strong side.

Gillingham - whose last Kent Senior Cup success came in 1948 - had caretaker boss Keith Millen in the dugout but it was very much their B team, with just a handful of Football League appearances between them.

With the fans kept apart - Gillingham’s 500 travelling supporters were given the whole of the Genco Stand - the atmosphere was low-key early on, although it certainly livened up.

The match reflected that before picking up midway through the first half when Gillingham’s Matt Macarthur intercepted Wanjau-Smith’s pass and ran in on goal.

Gavin Hoyte blocked the initial effort and two more efforts were snuffed out before the danger was cleared.

That got the crowd going and the home fans were in full voice as United took a 25th-minute lead from the penalty spot.

Liam Sole was fouled by Harry Webster after cutting inside from a raking Sam Bone pass and Aransibia sent Taite Holtham the wrong way.

The Town End roof was literally shaking as Stones supporters enjoyed the moment.

Kai Garrett finished tamely when found in space by Macarthur before Maidstone doubled their lead in the 40th minute.

Razzaq Coleman De-Graft and Perri Iandolo combined neatly to play in Wanjau-Smith, who coolly rolled the ball into the bottom corner.

Stan Skipper had an effort blocked for the Gills after escaping the attention of Raphe Brown shortly before the hour mark, while Wanjau-Smith curled a shot narrowly wide at the other end as Maidstone threatened again.

Wanjau-Smith went even closer soon after, denied by Holtham after running on to a clever Aransibia pass, then Coleman De-Graft had a shot blocked in the box after a poor clearance gifted the hosts possession.

Openings were few and far for the Gillingham youngsters, with a cross just evading the head of Kieron Agbebi.

But they managed a meaningful effort on target moving into the final 15 minutes with Alex Giles’ pass picked up by Ronald Sithole, who broke into the box and forced a decent low save from Harley Earle diving to his left.

Sam Corne miscued when well placed to score a third for Maidstone, Aransibia was denied from close-range shortly after and Riley Court also tried his luck before fellow substitute Michael Petrasso drilled wide.

Maidstone: Earle, Hoyte, Fowler, Brown, Coleman De-Graft (Amantchi 70mins), Corne, Wanjau-Smith, Aransibia, Bone (Court 46mins), Sole, Iandolo (Petrasso 81mins). Subs not used: Covolan, Smith.

Gillingham: Holtham, Orji, Webster (Bayliss 73mins), Skipper, Gale, Giles, Garrett (Taiwo 46mins), Chambers, Agebi, Macarthur, Sithole. Subs not used: Smith, Woodliffe, De Wilde.

Referee: Nick Dunn.

Attendance: 1,487 (500 away).