Thanks for joining me.
Here is Ben Fisher’s lovely report.
Updated
George Elokobi: “Immensely proud of the players. Congratulations to Coventry. Best luck to them in the next round.
“They gave their all today, that’s all I can ask. It was not enough but massive congratulations to all our boys and fans.
“The magic of the FA Cup is still alive. We knew we were never going to win it but this is what it is all about, playing against a great Championship side in a fantastic arena.”
Ellis Simms: “It is amazing to get this far in the competition. It’s a great achievement.
“We were ruthless tonight. I am delighted on a personal note with my first career hat-trick. Hopefully I can get many more.”
Maidstone players go to meet their fans. The supporters are enjoying themselves still.
Full time: Coventry 5-0 Maidstone
The Championship side were too good for their semi-professional counterparts from start to finish. Hat-trick hero Ellis Simms took his goals well and ensure this match was never a contest.
GOAL! Coventry 5-0 Maidstone (Tavares, 90+2)
Tavares taps home after Covolan parries a Godden shot into his path.
90 mins: Three minutes added on.
GOAL! Coventry 4-0 Maidstone (Tavares, 88)
The former Rochdale man finds space in behind and fires beyond the onrushing Covolan.
Updated
86 mins: Coventry are knocking the ball around the back to kill time and Maidstone do not have the energy to stop them. It will be lost in a lot of the hype of an upset but what an achievement for Coventry to reach the quarter finals.
84 mins: Maidstone swing a cross into the box but Wilson comes to claim.
82 mins: The whole affair seems a little flat the moment, Coventry are slowing things down. The win is guaranteed and Maidstone do not have much threat.
80 mins: Duku departs, Court on for Maidstone.
78 mins: Dasilva replaces Bidwell for Cov.
76 mins: Bone heads the ball back to Covolan who needs to deal with it outside the box, heading it straight back to this teammate.
Eccles takes a pop from 25 yards but it is pretty straightforward for the Brazilian to deal with.
74 mins: The aim for Maidstone now must be to get a goal. They are not looking like that doing that at this stage …
72 mins: Thomas drives out from defence, showing some fancy footwork to leave Maidstone’s attackers in his wake.
70 mins: I can offer chapter and verse on Gurung, if you like.
69 mins: A triple change for Maidstone, too.
Hoyte, Gurung, Ezennolim on; Brown, Kyprianou, Sole off
67 mins: A triple change for Cov.
Godden, Eccles, Van Ewijk on; Simms, Palmer, Torp off.
65 mins: Palmer curls the ball towards the top corner from 18 yards out but Covolan gets two strong hands behind the shot.
63 mins: O’Hare is bundled over by Greenidge near the corner flag. The free-kick is taken by Torp but it comes to nothing.
61 mins: Tavares takes a lovely first touch to control the ball coming out of the sky but when it comes to the shot, his finish is pretty wild.
59 mins: Maidstone are winning corners. There is a lot more energy and cohesive in their performance this half. Sadly, none of the set-pieces are coming to anything.
57 mins: Corne swings in another corner for Maidstone. Greenidge wins the first header once more but no one in yellow can get a shot away.
Down the other end, Covolan shows some fancy footwork to make the Coventry forwards look a little silly.
55 mins: Torp lifts the ball over the top for Bidwell, he takes it into the final third but his cross is weak and Covolan claims. The left-back gets another chance to cross soon after but Palmer’s header lacks power.
53 mins: Reynolds shows a bit of speed and quick feet inside the Coventry box but his shot hits the sidenetting.
51 mins: I suspect we will see some Maidstone changes around the hour mark just to freshen things up. They have been chasing shadows all night.
Maidstone get a corner! Corne swings it in from the left, Greenidge wins the first header but Coventry clear.
49 mins: I am not sure Maidstone have touched the ball since the interval. Some neat interplay leads to O’Hare bursting into the box but his shot is straight at the goalkeeper.
47 mins: Coventry are looking pretty slick in the opening stages of the half.
Second half
Here we go again! Are we about to witness the greatest comeback in FA Cup history? Absolutely not.
Wright is replaced by O’Hare for Coventry.
Half-time reading.
Half time: Coventry 3-0 Maidstone
There has only been one team in this match. Championship Coventry have made Maidstone look like a semi-professional side. Funny that.
45 mins: Two minutes added on.
43 mins: A Reynolds cross to the back post lands at the feet of Sole but he decides to control the ball rather than shoot. He tries to lay it back into the path of a teammate but Coventry a back in numbers. Bidwell clears before taking evasive action to avoid a reckless Fowler challenge.
41 mins: Maidstone just do not seem to be able to play with the requisite intensity required against a Championship team.
Covolan is called upon again, making a decent save from a Torp strike from distance.
39 mins: Elokobi is doing his best to offer instructions to his players. It must be hard work to stay positive at moments like this.
37 mins: To be fair to Maidstone, they can’t have played against too many £7m strikers in recent times.
GOAL! Coventry 3-0 Maidstone (Simms, hat-trick, 35)
A long ball down the middle is knocked down by Fowler into the path of Palmer. The midfielder fizzes a low shot from 25 yards which Covolan palms straight to Simms, who is happy to complete his hat-trick from close range. Done and dusted.
Updated
34 mins: Coventry are looking very much like they will score a third here and that certainly will be the end of this match as a contest. It is very much all Cov at the moment.
32 mins: Tavares is down on the deck after Greenidge cleans him out (in the fairest way possible).
30 mins: Coventry have few corners in quick succession but they come to nothing. The final one being volleyed wide by Tavares.
Peter Oh emails: “This Simms City game is definitely not going as Maidstone planned.”
28 mins: Wright drives into the Maidstone box but his shot is deflected wide.
Coventry winger Fábio Tavares is one of the few Portuguese players to come through the Rochdale academy and have a loan spell at Curzon Ashton. Actually, he’s probably the only one.
26 mins: Sole gets Maidstone’s first real shot of the night off but it flies wide.
Ian Sargeant emails: “Reiss’ brother Jordan plays just down the A26 at the mighty Tonbridge Angels - also in the National League South.
“Honours went the way of Reiss on New Year’s Day after a draw on Boxing Day.
“Being in the away end at the Gallagher is bit of fun. Good luck to the Stones tonight Yes honestly.”
Between the brothers, they have ticked off some fun places to play abroad: Spain, Cyprus and Norway.
24 mins: Palmer grimaces after a bit of knee-on-knee action but he looks OK to continue.
22 mins: I feel a bit sorry for Aaron McLean he thought an upset was guaranteed. He will be crushed.
Some mild comedy arrives as Greenidge has the ball whacked into the face by a teammate and it loops over his own bar from 20 odd yards.
20 mins: A Coventry corner is knocked down at the back post. Latibeaudiere attacks the loose ball but his shot is blocked, preventing a certain goal.
18 mins: Palmer looks to send a pass through the defence for Simms to chase but Covolan beats him to it on this occasion. Coventry are looking very confident now and understandable so.
16 mins: I think this is going to be a very tough night for Maidstone now. How can they recover from conceding two early goals?
GOAL! Coventry 2-0 Maidstone (Simms, 14)
Another cool finish from Simms, who pings the ball into the bottom corner after a nice pass from Palmer.
Updated
13 mins: Reynolds gets into the Coventry box and chips a cross to the back post but the ball is forced away. It does, however, come straight back and another dangerous cross is whipped across the six-yard line but without reaching anyone in yellow. Maidstone are not worried by the scoreline.
11 mins: Tom Hooper emails re the 1935 update: “Apologies, but I think I need a bit of an explainer. If there some reason why the (non banana) Maidstone Fans are engaging in some (excellent) Dmitri Shostakovich cosplay?”
He’s massive in Maidstone.
GOAL! Coventry 1-0 Maidstone (Simms, 9)
Maidstone lose the ball in their own half. Palmer slips a pass through, allowing Simms to the other side of the defence and jabs the ball into the net.
Updated
8 mins: Coventry win a corner. Torp drives the ball into the box, Colovan comes to claim and whacks it clear in an attempt to instigate a counter but Coventry intercept.
6 mins: Maidstone enjoy a little bit of possession. They work it well until Sole gives the ball away. They look pretty happy to attack tonight.
5 mins: I did once interview Maidstone centre-back Reiss Greenidge. I did some fine research (reading Wikipedia) and asked how his grandad, the former West Indian cricketer Gordon. Needless to say, it was not true. He wasn’t impressed.
4 mins: Maidstone fail to clear the ball and it ricochets into the path of Wright, who spins and fires a shot off but it is well saved by Covolan.
2 mins: Coventry have enjoyed most of the possession in the opening stages. Wright sends in a dangerous cross but it bounces off the back of Simms’ head.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
The players are heading out onto the pitch.
As Mark Robins said, tonight is a banana skin of a tie for Coventry.
Aaron McLean and our very own Karen Carney are loving George Elokobi and his role as cheerleader in front of the away end.
Mark Robins: “They’ve done brilliantly to be here – George has done a fantastic job. These are banana skins, everyone will be rooting for Maidstone tonight. If we don’t pay them the respect they are due, they can hurt us. They will have no fear.”
Gabriel Clarke is still exceptional at making packages for sport. Great to leave the final words to Elokobi.
Maidstone gaffer George Elokobi has been get the away end excited already.
Maidstone have brought 5,000 fans to Coventry, which is a decent effort.
This is all still mainly relevant, especially as I wrote it.
Pre-match reading.
Starting lineups
Coventry: Wilson, Latibeaudiere, Thomas, Kitching, Bidwell, Kelly, Torp, Palmer, Tavares, Simms, Wright
Subs: Bell, Binks, Dasilva, O’Hare, Golden, Van Ewijk, Lusala, Eccles, Andrews
Maidstone: Covolan, Greenidge, Fowler, Brown, Berkeley-Agyepong, Corne, Reynolds, Doku, Kyprianou, Bone, Sole
Subs: Hoyte, Ezennolim, Earle, Court, Smith, Gurung, Iandolo
Preamble
Will the Maidstone FA Cup run of shocking fun continue? They have seen off League Two, League One and Championship opposition. Barrow, Stevenage and Ipswich are all vying for promotion but they were unable to turn over the unfancied National League South side.
Coventry are the next team at risk of shaming the professional ranks by losing to minnows but Mark Robins will have his team up for this one. They sit four points off the playoff places in the Championship and were a penalty shootout away from being in the Premier League last season so, needless to say, they are no mugs.
I am sure Maidstone will have wanted to test themselves against some of the country’s very best but a trip to Coventry will provides the part-timers a shot of reaching the final eight.
Let’s hope for a cracker.
Kick-off: 7.45pm GMT
