27 March – Youth Round-Up

In the Kent Youth League today the Under 18s won at home against Whitstable Town, the Under 16s beat Dover at Tilmanstone, and the Under 15s beat Whitstable at Hereson. The Under 14s game against Canterbury City is postponed and the Under 13s were victorious away to Dover at River this afternoon. All the East Kent Youth League games were away – the Under 18s won at Hampton, the Under 13s drew and Under 12 A team won at Deal Town Rangers, the Under 12s lost at Canterbury Youth and the Under 11s beat Herne Bay Harriers. The Under 15s, without a game, visited Hugin Vikings for a friendly, which ended in a draw.

Kent Youth League

The Under 18s were victorious for the fifth week running, beating Whitstable Town 6-2 at Southwood to move up from 2^nd to 1^st place in the League, as leaders Folkestone were without a game today. Despite keeping the Whitstable ‘keeper (and former-Ram) Jordan Webster very busy in the 1^st half, it was the Rams who trailed 1-0 at the interval when a goalmouth scramble saw the ball go into the Rams’ net about 5 minutes before the break. In the 2^nd half the Rams took care of business however, the first goal from Dan Fowler, followed by a George Amber hat-trick, with the 5^th coming from Ollie Frewin.

The Under 16s needed to win their last 2 games to be Kent League Champions, the first of these was a very tough away trip to a strong and motivated Dover Athletic. The Rams started the brighter with good chances falling to both George Stannard and Shane Mitchell, but after 15 minutes Dover to get a foothold in the game and forced the immaculate Josh Mattless into 2 great saves. The Rams then began to grab back the initiative and were awarded a free kick out wide and 35 yards out and Jake Regan went for goal, and although the ‘keeper got both hands to it he was unable to keep it out making it 1-0 to the Rams. The goal was a timely boost for the lads and the halftime talk was about continuing to press for the second and not sitting back on our priceless lead. The 2^nd half saw a growing confidence from the boys and when Shane Mitchell chased a long ball forward forcing their ‘keeper and centre half into a misunderstanding, he was left to gleefully tap in from a few yards out. More Rams pressure 5 minutes later resulted in the ball dropping to Jake Regan who placed the ball superbly in the bottom corner of the net to make it 3-0 and game over. The Rams could have added to the tally as the 1^st half exertions seemed to take a toll on Dover, but despite hitting the bar and their ‘keeper making a great save the score remained 3-0. It was a very good, solid and professional performance from the lads, who did everything asked of them and deserve next week’s opportunity to be league champions. It was easy to see today why they have conceded so few goals this season as, if you do get past the hard working strikers and combative midfield, you then have a formidable back 4 of Weston Beckwith, Joe Thomas, Henry Piper and Nick Symaka to pass, and even then there is still the mighty Mattless. It won’t be easy next week as Maidstone are on the up, but it is do-able

The Under 15s

The Under 15s continued their good form to take the points and push their way up to the 2^nd spot in the League with one game remaining, and just a point next week at Ashford with see them confirmed runners-up as Maidstone claimed the title this weekend. Ramsgate started well and had long periods of possession but couldn’t manage to convert all the pressure into a goal. Whitstable were happy to sit back and continue to soak up the pressure, trying to hit the Rams on the counter with the long ball, but Macaulay Durling and stand-in defender Josh McAteer dealt these with ease. Ben Davies was another of the Rams defence having a good game and made the first goal for Mason Webb with a blistering run into the box managing to cross the ball back from the byeline, which found Webb for a easy tap in. Rams made it two straight from the restart when a Ben Munday cross was deflected into the Whitstable goal by their own player just before the break. Whitstable came out for the 2^nd half with renewed vigour and battled to get back into the game, and following some early pressure gained a corner which they scored thanks to some poor marking. Whitstable were gifted their second when a throw out from the Rams’ keeper failed to be controlled and the Whitstable forward nipped in to simply hit home. Ramsgate took a while to regain their composure but when they started to reapply the pressure they soon regained the lead when Dominic Crawford took one of the many chances that had fallen to the Rams’ forward line in a lengthy spell of domination, and two more goals for Crawford quickly followed, while one for Ben Munday put the game well out of Whitstable’s reach. Jordan Box had a good game at left back, as did Jack Grainger and Man of the Match Jarrett Francis in centre midfield with one of his best performances of the season.

The Under 14s’ game against Canterbury City was cancelled.

The Under 13s were away to Dover and won 2-1.

East Kent Youth League

The Under 18s travelled to Herne Bay to play Hampton in their last League today. The Rams only had 10 men and the home side soon seized the initiative to take the lead. However a great cross-field ball to Tom Rickwood saw his well taken first-time effort find the net. Fifteen minutes later neat control and a smart finish from Jack Paine saw the visitors go in 2-1 up at half-time. Hampton caught the reds asleep 20 seconds from the re-start to level at 2 all. The Rams again went ahead through a strong Dan Tucker header but the home team again levelled shortly afterwards. Ten-man Ramsgate forged on and a neat lob from Lewis Atree again swung the game, while Paine scored in the closing minutes for his brace, Ramsgate winning 5-3. ‘Keeper Jordan Peace made a couple of important saves to keep the Rams in the game throughout, while David Oliver, Tom Newing, Lewis Haine, Danny James and Bradley Schulz all contributed to a lively encounter.  

The Under 16s and Under 15s were without League games today, but the Under 15s drew 3-3 with Hugin Vikings in a mediocre friendly, fixtured to prevent the rust setting in! However, the oil is on order ….

The Under 13s went to Deal Town Rangers and although they took the lead through Bradley Welsh, a late equaliser left them sharing the points with their hosts.

The Under 12s visited Canterbury Youth but ended up on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline, the young Rams’ goal coming from Jordan Honour.

The Under 12 A team also visited Deal Town and came away with all 3 points. The Rams took hold of the game from the start, and with some quick passing opened Deal up with Ryan Lewis coming close to goal. Ben Pledger was called upon several times coming out from goal to clear the ball, leaving the half time score at 0-0. Early in the 2^nd half the young Rams took the lead with Ollie Harris finding the top corner of the net from a 25yd free kick. Strong challenges and perseverance from the Rams’ defence, Louis Clarke, Jack Field, Matt Short and Sam Chivilo, resulted in a second free kick that took a deflection and fell to the feet of Ryan Lewis who slotted in the second of the match. The Rams’ midfield of Owen Toller, Hayden Telles, Billy Munday and George Lawry-Jones kept Deal on their toes throughout, resulting in a failed clearance being smashed into the back of the net by Charlie James. Substitute Chas Day’s accurate passing through Deal’s defence saw James add to his first with a one-on-one with the ‘keeper, ending the game with a 4-0 victory. A good team performance from each and every one of the boys.

The Under 11s’ visit to Herne Bay should have been a stroll in the park for the young Rams, with the Harriers only fielding 9 players, one of them being a stand in goalkeeper. Herne Bay proved to be very resilient in the 1^st half, they defended wave after wave of Ramsgate attacks and the ‘keeper had the game of his life, making one outstanding save after another. Apart from William Heron in the Ramsgate goal every other Ram must have had a shot at goal. Charlie King put it over the bar in the first minute, Finlay McConnell had efforts saved and shot high and wide on two other occasions. The Rams registered 18 efforts at goal in the 1^st half but Herne Bay held out to go in nil nil at half time. The 2^nd half started much the same as the first with a Rams onslaught on the Herne Bay goal. Jack Walton hit the post in the opening seconds; Josh Richards finally made the breakthrough coming in off the right wing and firing home coolly for 0-1. That seemed to open the flood gates – Deco Walker had a good effort saved but Finlay McConnell was there to tuck away the rebound, 0-2. Ramsgate were then awarded a penalty, McConnell struck the ball well but the ‘keeper made another fine save. McConnell pounced on the rebound only to see the ‘keeper save again. Deco made it 0-3, taking no prisoners and blasting the ball home through a crowded box. A solo run by Billy Walker was thwarted again by the Herne Bay ‘keeper, but the clearance fell to Deco who played a lovely through ball to Scott Rodam who made it 0-4. Finlay made it 0-5 as the young Rams started lining up to score. Charlie King got on the score sheet for 0-6 and Finlay got his hatrick with 0-7. Scott Rodam slid one under the ‘keeper for his second and Ramsgate’s 8^th. Harry Hargreaves made it 0-9 with the Herne Bay team relieved to hear the final whistle soon after. A good sporting performance from the young Rams who cheered their opponents off the pitch, especially the ‘keeper who was outstanding.