The coach Maidstone put on gardening leave stands in their way of a place in the Kent Cup semi-finals.

Andy Foley was moved aside after revealing he would be joining Westcombe Park in National 3 London & South East last year.

He intended to see out the season but form suffered and the club took action.

Successor Paul Hathaway has led Maidstone to the top of London 2 South East with a 100% record. He’s interested only in the rugby as his side travel to Park on Saturday looking to upset a team who play two levels above them.

Hathaway said: “Andy isn’t part of the equation at all, as far as I’m concerned. It’s in the background but it’s not part of my preparations. I just want to play the game for what it’s worth.

“I don’t know what the dynamics were in relation to Andy leaving. All I know is that he and the club decided to part ways and I had to start a little earlier than intended.”

It’s the first time all season Maidstone go into a game as underdogs but confidence is high and Hathaway is interested to see how his side fare against higher-league opposition.

He said: “We set out to build a squad to get promoted, which we should do and we have players capable of playing at a higher level. This game will be a good marker of where we’re at.”