It’s 40 years today since the great FA Cup second-round trilogy between Gillingham and Maidstone was settled.

After two goalless draws, it was back to Priestfield for the third fixture with non-league United upsetting their Division 3 hosts 2-0 on December 22 1980.

Mark Newson broke the deadlock in the second half and Frank Ovard’s classy chip clinched victory for the Alliance Premier visitors in front of a crowd of almost 8,000.

“The team that night were just fantastic,” recalled manager Barry Watling, in a 2015 interview with Stones TV.

“In the dressing room it was fantastic, particularly for the guys who used to play for Gillingham, the Kenny Hills and the John Huttons.

"They’d been told they weren’t good enough, they’d dropped out of the league and they’d gone back there and proved a point. It was fantastic.”

Opening goalscorer Newson said he felt “almost heartbroken” after Charlton let him go, adding: “But tonight makes up for that. I thought the keeper was unsighted when I shot.

"I can’t describe the feeling when I saw the ball hit the back of the net.”

Ovard, a darling of the Stones fans, declared his lob over Ron Hillyard as the best goal he’d ever scored.

He said: “We were told that the goalkeeper sometimes strays off his line.

“When I looked up and saw him out of goal, I just chipped him. He got a touch but couldn’t stop it going in. It’s the best goal I’ve ever scored.”

Skipper Kenny Hill, one of the ex-Gills players Watling spoke about, said: “Had we won the other two games, then I think it would have been undeserved.

"But no one can argue that we didn’t deserve to win tonight.”

Jim Thompson, Maidstone’s chairman, said: “During these cup games, Gillingham and Maidstone have come to understand each other, which can only be for the betterment of football in Kent.

“It’s no good Maidstone and Gillingham or Gravesend and Maidstone being at each other’s throats. We must all work together for the good of the game.

“Tonight is not about me or the directors. It’s about the team and the manager.”

Maidstone went out in round three, losing 4-2 at home to Exeter.

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