Rams 1 Burgess Hill 3

Ramsgate came into the game on the back of two wins with clean sheets, and despite the absence of captain Ben Laslett through personal commitments, confidence was high. It was a bit of a shock therefore when Burgess Hill took a 16^th minute lead when a weak shot was deflected past ‘keeper Conor Quinn by Warren Schulz as Danny Curd homed in, although it was Schulz who restored the status quo 2 minutes later with a powerful volley from the edge of the area gave Joel Harding no chance. The Rams nearly took the lead in the 22^nd minute when Mitchell Sherwood’s cross found Joe Taylor outside the area, who turned and curled it towards the far top corner, but the ball flew just outside the woodwork. Burgess Hill extended their lead 5 minutes before the interval when a corner ball flew across the goalmouth, assisted by a flick-on header and the ‘keeper’s finger tips and Lloyd Cotton headed in at the far post. The Rams nearly equalised in the final moments of the half, when Sherwood put the ball over to Schulz in the middle, but ‘keeper Joel Harding did well to block the shot with his legs and, although the ball came back to Schulz he was bundled off the ball by a defender.

Ramsgate introduced midfielder Paul Axon for right back Ryan Harker at the break, with a more attacking line-up, and 6 minutes in Mark Lovell swung a ball in from the right to Schulz in the box, but his close range shot went off the crossbar. Burgess Hill extended their lead further in the 57^th minute when a poor header by Liam Quinn was intercepted by Curd, who broke to the right before crossing to Steve Harper, who sidestepped a defender before volleying past ‘keeper Quinn. In the 62^nd minute Schulz hit the woodwork again, when he beat the defence to Sherwood’s looping cross from the right and headed clear of Harding, but the ball hit the upright. Four minutes later and Darren Boswell fancied getting the Hillians’ 4^th, but his long range effort flew well clear over the goal as well as the wall behind the terrace, while with 4 minutes to go Harper had another good effort, but ‘keeper Quinn saved well. Then, in the 90^th minute, a ball from Lovell released Sherwood on another incisive run, but as he cut inside the area and shot at goal a defender’s outstretched arm blocked the shot. Sherwood took the penalty himself, but a great save by Harding kept the score at 1-3.

Rams: Conor Quinn, Ryan Harker (Paul Axon 46), James Gregory, Curtis Winnett (Ollie Gray 76), Liam Quinn (c), Luke Wheatley, Aaron Beech, Warren Schulz, Mark Lovell, Joe Taylor (Tom Tsangarides 67), Mitchell Sherwood. Unused sub: Brett Mills.