Dulwich Hamlet 2 Rams 4

Tonight the Rams went against the commuter flow in the evening rush hour and headed to the Champion Hill Stadium in south London. The Hamlet were three places (and three points) beneath the Rams, but with five games in hand, however Ramsgate earned a well deserved win, their first over Dulwich in the Ryman League.

The Rams got off to a great start when Mark Lovell shot wide in the opening minute, and there was not long to wait for him to get on the core sheet as Lovell was brought down by Kalvin Morath-Gibbs  in the 4th minute and he slotted the subsequent penalty past the giant Stuart Robinson.   Dulwich struck back three minutes later when a Junior Kadi free kick curled round the Rams wall and nestled into the net.   A further free kick restored the Rams’ lead on 12 when Warren Schulz’s deflected shot left Robinson going the wrong way. Mitchell Sherwood almost put Paul Axon through on 17 but the Dulwich attack through the speedy Nyren Clunis and Sol Pinnock was causing problems. In the 34th minute the hapless Robinson miss-hit a clearance straight to Schulz, who hit it straight past him into the net. Dulwich piled into the attack, a Francis Duku shot was headed off the line by James Gregory and a cross by Lewis Gonslaves was just headed over by Clunis.  In the 45th minute a Clunis cross found David Moore who headed in for 2-3. There was still time for a Kadi free kickbefore the interval, but this was well saved by Smelt.

The 2^nd half was a calmer affair with Dulwich possession unable to break down the Rams’ defence. Zack Thomas’s introduction refreshed the Rams’ attack and he should have put Axon through after dribbling past 2 defenders. However, when Axon broke on 72 his great pass found Thomas who slotted home for 2-4. An Alim Sesay shot was saved by Smelt’s legs on 84 and a Clunis effort went narrowly wide on 90, but Rams held on for all three points.

Rams: Jack Smelt, Ollie Gray, James Gregory, Luke Wheatley, Liam Quinn, Ben Laslett (c), Mitchell Sherwood, Warren Schulz, Mark Lovell (Zack Thomas 60), Aaron Beech (Curtis Winnett 48), Paul Axon. Substitutes: Gary Lockyer, Sammy Cliff, Brett Mills.

Attendance 154