27 Feb Youth Round-Up

Saturday’s rain saw one home fixture and one away game off, but all other scheduled matches went ahead. In the Kent Youth League the Under 18s beat Dover Athletic, the Under 16s were victorious at Norton Sports, the Under 15s won at Deal Town Rangers and the Under 14s lost at Hollands & Blair; the Under 13s’ game against Dover at Pfizer was cancelled. In the East Kent Youth League the Under 18s, Under 16s, Under 15s and Under 13s were all without game. The Under 12s lost at Trinity, the Under 12 A team won at Whitstable Town Juniors and the Under 11s’ visit to Folkestone was the other game cancelled.

Kent Youth League

The Under 18s welcomed 2^nd place Dover Athletic to Southwood and, despite taking about 20 minutes to get into their stride, the Rams were 2-1 up at the interval thanks to a brace from George Amber, although Dan Fowler also went close with an overhead kick that was denied by the upright. In the 2^nd half Dover were chasing an equaliser and despite some good stops from Shaun Kennedy, they were rewarded after some sustained pressure when, like their first half strike, Kennedy managed to get a hand to the shot but not enough to turn it away. The Rams kept pressing though and, having gone close on a number of occasions, were rewarded with 10 minutes to go when Amber latched onto an inch perfect ball from Jack Kirkby to drive into the area and slot past the ‘keeper for his hat-trick.

The Under 16s beat Norton Sports 3-1 – report awaited.

The Under 15s travelled to Deal Town this week attempting to improve their shaky away form, but after only winning their home tie against Deal by the smallest of margins, 1-0, the Rams thought it was going to be another tight game. During the early stages of their last three games Ramsgate had conceded sloppy early goals, mostly due to a lack of concentration, and the lads needed to focus from the kickoff, especially as the pitch was far from fit to be played on due to the week’s rainfall and the swirling wind that was bound to cause problems when the ball was in the air. The Rams won the toss and decided to keep the wind behind them for the first half advantage, and it wasn’t long before they started to break down the Deal defence and had many chances to take the lead but couldn’t find a finish. The Rams’ midfield of Jack Grainger, Jarrett Francis, Josh McAteer and Dominic Crawford were winning almost every challenge, and sending the ball back into the path of the forward line of Kane Rowland and Mason Webb. The Rams opened the scoring when a long ball from the defence found Crawford who crossed into the box for Mason Webb to finish coolly. The Rams kept up the pressure and continued to pepper the Deal goal with plenty of chances – Kane Rowland made it two with a 18yd strike that found the top right hand corner, and Dominic Crawford made it three before the break, again with a nice crisp finish from 20yds into the top corner. The 2^nd half continued much the same as the 1st, seeing Ramsgate with most of the play, Jack Grainger rattling the crossbar in the early stages and Mason Webb hitting his 2^nd of the game following some great build up play between the midfield and Daniel Barrett, who had replaced Rowland after picking up a knock that saw him retire from the game. The game seemed to lose its way following the fourth goal, mainly due to the condition of the pitch and the tiredness of both teams playing on such a surface. Deal Town earned a late consolation goal minutes from the end when the defence of Niall Turner, Macaulay Durling, Sid Twelftree and Jordon Box, which had dealt with everything that Deal had to offer, switched off during a free-kick that denied the Rams a well deserved clean sheet. But all in all, a very good result away from home against a usually strong mid-table Deal team. Both the Ramsgate ‘keepers, Harry Brooks and Kieran Thompson, had a good game while M.O.T.M went to Niall Turner who impressed in defence when called upon. 

The Under 14s missed out on a good opportunity to get all 3 points in this very even game between two good footballing sides. The Rams made good headway in the 1^st half, kicking against the wind and up a slight slope, on a good pitch up at Gillingham. From a period of good 2-touch football Ramsgate forced a corner and subsequently went in front, with Lloyd Leppard getting the final touch, albeit a vain attempt on the goal line by a Blair defender sought to clear the ball, but the goal was given by the linesman and Ramsgate were 1-up. This is the way it stayed till half time. With the slope and wind now in their favour it seemed as though the Rams would take full advantage of this, but it was the home side who started the brighter and from being 1-0 up the Rams found themselves 2-1 down in no time at all. It has to be said that sloppy defending was the cause of this deficit but to their credit they upped the tempo and deservedly made it 2 a- piece when Sparky Robinson finished a neat move by cracking a fine volley into the far corner. But it was not to be and the home side got the winning goal with about 10 minutes remaining. A few chances came Ramsgate’s way in a final flourish of chances either end but there were no more goals to be had. Mention has to go to the referee, who was definitely the best we have had all season and should be the benchmark to all county appointed officials, which unfortunately will not be the case.

The Under 13s’ game against Dover Athletic at Pfizer was cancelled owing to the pitches being waterlogged.

East Kent Youth League

The Under 18s, Under 16s, Under 15s, and Under 13s were all without games today.

The Under 12s lost their match against top-of-the-table Trinity 3-0 on Sunday.  Trinity were ahead 1-0 at the break. The score at the end would have been more if it wasn’t for the Ramsgate brave defence and safe hands of the Rams’ ‘keeper, Stan Waller. The Rams didn’t seem to enter this game with the same determination that they have previously, which could well be to do with so many games being postponed due to adverse weather, not allowing them to keep their tempo and enthusiasm as high as they need. Hopefully with the weather now improving, there will be no further cancellations, which will allow the Rams to develop, as we know they can, into their remaining games.

The Under 12A team travelled to Whitstable Town Juniors and came away with all 3 points. Jack Field opened the scoring with a header from a well placed corner taken by Matt Short. The Rams’ persistent pressure paid off with further goals from Hayden Telles, Louis Clarke and Ryan Lewis to bring the half-time score to 4-0. The second half started as the first, with strong defending from Stephen Dolan, Jack Field, Owen Toller and George Lawry-Jones leading to further goals from Sam Chivilo, Louis Clarke’s second, Hayden Telles’ second, Ryan Lewis’ second, Billy Munday and Ollie Harris, taking the final score to 10-0. Great team work also from Charlie James, Chas Day and Ben Pledger between the sticks.

The Under 11s were due to play Folkestone Invicta Youth at the Polo Ground but this was cancelled owing to the pitch being waterlogged.