Rams 2 Whyteleafe 1

With 10 points from the first 4 Ryman League games, and only 1 point from the subsequent 5, Ramsgate were in dire need of a win to stabilise their recent slide down the table. And despite a mediocre start to today’s game from both sides, it looked like the Rams would go ahead in the 26^th minute when a blatant handball gave the home side a penalty. After an incredible rant at the referee by Whyteleafe’s skipper Fred Fleming, with the man in black showing great leniency by only showing a yellow card after the tirade, ‘keeper Paul Smith managed to block Joe Taylor’s penalty, and although the Rams’ number 9 headed the 2^nd ball goal-wards, a quick-thinking ‘Leafe defender managed to get his foot to it to put it over the bar. This buoyed the Rams and Smith and co came under great pressure until the 36^th minute, when against the run of play Curtis Wilson saw his corner cleared, but his 2^nd ball in was met by Fleming’s late run into the box and the visitors took the lead, and the advantage into the interval.

Five minutes after the restart the ‘Leafe threatened again, when Fleming’s header rattled the cross bar, but after a single then double substitution by the Rams introduced three new strikers, it was only a matter of time before the home side equalised. In the 67^th minute a great header from Taylor was tipped over from close range by Smith, but the resulting corner reached Joseph Afusi in the box who turned the ball in to level the score. The Rams kept pushing and 6 minutes later a Mitchell Sherwood freekick was pushed on by Afusi for Taylor to drill into the net. It seemed that the Rams had another goal in them, and a Luke Wheatley freekick was headed just wide by Warren Schulz, and in the final minute Taylor’s shot on the turn ran agonisingly close to the outside of the upright, but the score remained 2-1.

Attendance 143

Ramsgate: Daren Hawkes, Mitchell Sherwood, Luke Wheatley, Ollie Gray, Liam Quinn (c), Ben Laslett (Joseph Afusi 64), Aaron Beech (Passcal Ebigbo 55), Michael Yianni (Warren Schulz 64), Joe Taylor, Simon Pettit, Steve O‘Brien. Unused Subs: Gareth Cornhill and Matt Lamprell.