Bognor Regis 1 Rams 1

Ramsgate continued their excellent start to 2011 and remain unbeaten after a battling draw at top of the table Bognor Regis Town.

Bognor were first onto the attack with the Rams driven back on defence early on. James Prior, surprisingly given Man of the Match by the home team sponsor, wasted the first of his many chances in the 8^th minute when he completely miss-hit with the goal at his mercy. Kane Wills failed to latch onto a rebound after a great save by Jack Smelt on 9. The Rams were slowly picking up the pace of the game and Luke Wheatley, breaking forward, narrowly failed with a cheeky overhead kick on 14. On the 21^st minute a teasing centre by James Gregory was met by the telescopic leg of Warren Schulz, who put the Rams 1-0 ahead with a shot that went in off the post.

The Rams almost made it 2-0 four minutes later when the returning Liam Quinn just failed to latch on to a Mitchell Sherwood cross. James Prior missed a sitter for the home team on 30 when presented with a glorious chance following a Dan Beck centre. However in the 40^th minute he at last converted a chance and slotted home a centre from the right.

The start of the 2^nd half brought almost continual home pressure as the Rams struggled to break out of defence.  Smelt produced a fantastic save on 55 from veteran Bognor captain Michael Birmingham and James Prior fluffed another golden chance on 62 after a cross from Dan Beck. Luke Wheatley just got his head on a dangerous centre to prevent a chance on 70 and a brilliant interchange between Marzetti and Birmingham led to a Prior header into Jack Smelt’s arms.

At this point the Rams suddenly became rejuvenated as Bognor’s efforts just ran out of steam. A spell of sustained pressure was followed by a Schulz header cleared off the line and a Wheatley header just past the post.  Injury time saw Bognor huff and puff but fail to blow the Rams’ fortress down.

Ramsgate: Jack Smelt, Ollie Gray, James Gregory, Luke Wheatley, Liam Quinn, Ben Laslett (c), Aaron Beech, Warren Schulz, Mark Lovell (Joe Taylor 59), Mitchell Sherwood, Paul Axon (Simon Pettit 46). Unused subs: Curtis Winnett, Ryan Harker, Brett Mills.