It was job done for Jay Saunders as Maidstone reached the first round of the FA Trophy.

Jay May’s injury-time strike after Alex Flisher met a Bobby-Joe Taylor cross gave United a battling 1-0 win in the final qualifying round at Hampton & Richmond on Saturday.

It wasn’t a day for sparkling football but Saunders’ men managed to keep the game goalless at the break after Ryman League Boro chose to play with the wind.

Maidstone went on to enjoy the best of the second half but looked set to be taken to a replay until May scored in the second minute of injury time.

Boss Saunders said: “It was all about the result today. I know that’s obvious but the performance goes out the window in conditions like this.

“Stood here now the pitch doesn’t look too bad but when you’re out there you realise how muddy and heavy it was, very bobbly.

“It’s not a great place to come - I don’t enjoy coming here - and it was just about getting the result. It was a game of two halves.

“First half it was very hard to get out of that end and second half we knew that we’d have the advantage. The one real bit of quality, we scored from.

“You're thinking replay by the time we got the goal but thankfully we got that chance and Jay took it. It was a great ball by Bob, a lovely little set by Flish and a good finish.”

There was more to Maidstone’s second-half improvement than simply having the conditions in their favour. They stood up to a Hampton side who faded as the tie wore on.

Saunders said: “I think they ran out of steam a little bit. They went for it in the first half.

"They chose to go with the wind but we managed to hold out, luckily at times, because I thought they opened us up a little bit easily in the first 15 minutes.

“I’d not been able to have them watched because since the draw was made they haven’t played, so I didn’t know much about them other than from speaking to a few other managers who said they’ll get in your face, make it really difficult and work really hard.

“At half-time it was a case of saying we need to do the uglier side better, win the second balls, probably a bit more of what we were used to doing last year and what we were better at doing last year.

“That was the reason we took Jack Paxman off early in the second half. I just didn’t think it suited him at all, it was too much of a battle, we couldn’t get him on the ball and if you’re not doing that it’s a bit pointless having him out there. He’d be the first to admit that.”

Second-placed Maidstone return to National South action at home to Maidenhead on Tuesday (7.45pm).