30 January – Youth Round-Up

One cup and four league games for the Kent Youth League teams today, with the Under 18s exiting the County Cup at Erith Town, the Under 16s beating Herne Bay at Southwood, the Under 15s winning at Kennington, the Under 14s losing to Sittingbourne at Pfizer and the Under 13s winning at Herne Bay. Two cup and four league games for the East Kent Youth League teams, with the Under 18s drawing with Deal Town at Clarendon and the Under 16s losing at Ashford Borough, both in the league, while the Under 15s were without a game. The Under 13s beat Stars’n’Stripes in the league at St Lukes, the Under 12 A team knocked Canterbury Youth A out of the league cup at Clarendon, the Under 12s drew at Canterbury Eagles in the league, and the Under 11s went out of the league cup at Canterbury Youth.

Kent Youth League

The Under 18s travelled to southeast London to face Erith Town in the quarter final of the County Cup but, despite having despatched the likes of Faversham and Dartford in previous rounds, struggled on a very poor pitch and exited the competition thanks to a single goal in the 2^nd half.

The Under 16s continued their unbeaten league season with a hard fought win against Herne Bay today at Southwood, although as a result Bay have slipped out of the title race they are a top team and anything short of a good performance would make it a game difficult to win. The Rams started the brighter but as always Bay looked to pass the ball through their midfield and were always threatening up to the last quarter, the Rams were creating the better chances and had two good opportunities to take the lead. Just as the Rams were looking to assume control Bay created 2 very good chances of their own just before half time which ‘keeper Josh Mattless did superbly well to save. The second half saw the young Rams pushing on more and after a little spell of ineffective Bay ‘keep ball’ Ramsgate broke quickly down the left, Shane Mitchell moved out wide to collect the ball then turned and went at the defence, leaving two defenders in his wake, before lofting a perfectly placed cross for George Stannard to head a superb goal, looping it back over the ‘keeper. The Rams had more chances to increase the lead with the tireless Connor Armstrong playing his first game in centre midfield due to the absence through illness of captain Alex Miles, hitting the bar with a curled left foot shot, and Dan Todd just missing out at the far post following a pinpoint cross from the left. One Herne Bay attack resulted in a cross going inches wide but ‘keeper Mattless was not really called into action anymore. The Rams’ defensive record is forming the foundation of their title bid but again the will to win, the desire to defend from the front, and the league’s best central defensive partnership (Joe Thomas and Henry Piper) are all big factors, but above all that the work rate, team spirit and the effort being put in are massive  A special mention for Ryan Freedman who again was given the thankless man for man marking job of Bay’s key playmaker, and again rose to the occasion brilliantly, giving him nothing all day. The squad – Josh Mattless, Joe Thomas, Nick Symaka, Nick Dolan, Henry Piper, Jake Regan, Dan Todd, Ryan Freedman, Ollie Sharpe, Shane Mitchell, George Stannard, Connor Armstrong and Dave Parker.

The Under 15s put last week’s defeat behind them with a much deserved away win at Kennington. The Rams started strong but were unable to convert several chances following some good build up play from the midfield. Kennington scored against the run of play and the Rams were unable to reply or settle due to the ferociousness of some of the Kennington tackles, one of which led to Kennington being reduced to ten men at the break. The Rams came out for the 2^nd half with more urgency and started to pile on the pressure only some great saves from the home keeper stopping Ramsgate from getting off the mark. Ramsgate scored their first following some good link up play between Jarrett Francis and Dominic Crawford from the midfield who found Mason Webb inside the box for a simple tap in. Ben Munday scored his first of the season when Josh McAteer found him free and sent him through to lob the keeper. Kennington continued to tackle hard and late and give away free kicks which were starting to ruin the game. Dominic Crawford got Ramsgate’s third with a blistering run into the box that ended with a precision strike to beat the ‘keeper. Kennington pulled one back when a long clearance from the ‘keeper caught out the Rams’ defence. Kennington put into their own net under pressure in the late stages of the game which sealed all three points for the Rams. Captain Josh McAteer was awarded Man of the Match while Macaulay Durling, Jordon Box and Ben Davis impressed in defence.

The Under 14s welcomed Sittingbourne to Pfizer but ended up on the wrong end of a 5-2 scoreline.

The Under 13s visited Herne Bay and bounced back from last week’s cup disappointment with a 5-0 win.

East Kent Youth League

The Under 18s played Deal Town Rangers at Clarendon and, thanks to goals from Jack Paine and Lewis Haine, drew 2-2.

The Under 16s went to Ashford Borough and suffered their worst defeat of the season, conceding 4 goals in the 1^st half and 5 in the 2^nd, with no reply.

The Under 15s were without a game today.

The Under 13s welcomed the Stars’n’Stripes to St Lukes, collecting 3 points from a 3-1 victory thanks to goals in the 1^st half from Bradley Welsh and a stunning left foot lob from Billy Batchelor, and in the 2^nd half some neat work by Sam Miller and Man of the Match Tommy Mills led to Ross Griffin getting the 3^rd.

The Under 12 A team hosted the next round of the league cup against Canterbury Youth A, which proved to be a comfortable 7-0 win, at Clarendon today. The start of the game looked to be evenly matched but within ten minutes of kick off Hayden Telles opened the scoring with a long range strike that left the keeper no time to think. A few minutes later Ryan Lewis made it 2-0 with a low shot in the penalty area. Fine passing from Louis Clarke and Sam Chivilo up the wing set up Ollie Harris, who cut into the area and took the score to 3-0. Ryan Lewis’ second of the game came from a curling corner kick, bringing the score to 4-0. Strong defending from Stephen Dolan, Jack Field and George Lawry-Jones, saw Chas Day set the ball up for an unstoppable volley from Ryan Lewis, adding his third to the score. Just before the break Lewis took the score to 6-0 with a tap in from a defended ball. The 2^nd half started with substitutes Matt Short and Billy Munday and the Rams seemed to take their foot off the gas for a while giving Canterbury their fair share of play for ten minutes. Ben Pledger at last had work to do when Canterbury was awarded a penalty, which hit the woodwork. The Rams had several more chances to score with Sam Chivilo and Charlie James testing the ‘keeper once more. The final goal came when Owen Toller set Billy Munday free, who cut inside the defence and curled the ball into the corner of the net. A strong team performance that was enjoyable to watch.

The Under 12s travelled to Canterbury Eagles in the league and took a share of the points after a 1-1 draw, Tom Perriam scoring for the young Rams.

The Under 11s were always going to struggle in this rearranged cup match at Canterbury Youth, with a depleted squad due to injuries and new signings being cup-tied, the young Rams were down to the bare 11. The Rams were put under severe pressure for the first 15 minutes of this match, with stand-in ‘keeper William Heron making 2 first class saves to keep a well organised Canterbury side at bay. Against the run of play Ramsgate carved out an opening with Deco Walker lifting the ball into the box for Finlay McConnell to control and slide a pass to Billy Walker who put the finishing touch on it from an awkward angle, 1-0 to the Rams. The young Rams then gave away 2 sloppy penalties in the space of 5 minutes and trailed 2-1 at half time. The boys started the second half brightly but were caught on the counter attack by Canterbury and paid the price as the score became 3-1 to Canterbury. Canterbury then seized the momentum and passed the ball around well, making it hard for the Rams to gain possession. Some resilient defending with Callum Piper and Rhys Davies clearing off the line and another great save from William Heron kept the score line down. But losing Hal Mutton with 10 minutes to go was too much for the Rams, eventually losing 5-1. A return fixture in the league next week with a full squad and the young Rams should give a better account of themselves.