13 Nov – Youth Round-Up

Four League and one cup games for both the Kent Youth League and the East Kent Youth League today. In the KYL Under 18s beat Hythe Town and the Under 16s drew with Hollands & Blair while the Under 15s drew at Maidstone. The Under 14s progressed to the next round in the County Cup ater thrashing Cobham Colts but the Under 13s lost at Ashford Borough. In the EKYL the Under 18s beat Herne Bay Youth and the Under 16s won at Hythe Stars & Stripes. The Under 14s and Under 13s lost to Deal Town and Kennington Juniors respectively, while the Under 12s went out of the League Cup at Kennington on penalties.

Kent Youth League

The Under 18s welcomed Hythe Town to Southwood and won 7-0 with a hat-trick from Shane Mitchell and singles from Oli Frewin, Chris Rigden (pen), Jake Regan and George Stannard.

The Under 16s threw away a 2-0 lead in this top of the table clash. The Rams started very well and took the game to the league leaders creating many early chances before Macaulay Durling found himself free at the far post to latch onto a Kane Rowland pass across the penalty area, and it wasn’t long before Dominic Crawford made it two after twenty minutes. Blair found it hard to get any solid possession in the first half and let their frustration get the better of them with some rash challenges before the break. As the second half continued Blair and Ramsgate started to lose their shape and many arguments around the pitch fired up the two teams and the game suffered. Ramsgate were getting involved with off the ball arguments, which is what the opposition wanted, and soon Holland and Blair found themselves back in the game when the Rams were caught on the attack and left themselves open at the back. Hollands and Blair saved the points with the last kick of the game when following several late corners Blair latched onto a loose ball at the far post. Man of the Match for the Rams went to Charlie Evans. 

The Under 15s produced another fine performance to come within a whisker of beating a very strong title contending Maidstone United side. The Rams took the game to their opponents from the off and put the recent 5-0 league cup defeat by Maidstone behind them. It was the home side that took the lead from a break away, when Ramsgate’s ‘keeper made a fine save when 1-on-1, but the ball fell unkindly back to the forward who tucked away the rebound. This spurred on the Rams and from a bout of sustained pressure the equaliser came courtesy of a great free kick from Jack Penny which found the top corner from fully 25 yds out to make it 1-1 at half-time. The 2^nd half saw Ramsgate with the slight advantage of the slope and it did not take long for them to force there 2^nd goal. Dogged work by Charlie Loveday, who worked the Maidstone defender into a rash challenge in the area and a penalty was awarded, which was duly dispatched by Adam Turton. This sparked the expected pressure from the home side but this squad had learnt from the previous meeting and the game ebbed and flowed from end to end with neither the Rams being able to claim a 3^rd and Maidstone never looking threatening to find the equaliser. With 9 minutes remaining a hopeful ball into the box was not dealt with and Maidstone claimed the equaliser. A fully committed game by both sides ended with honours even at 2-2, and shows how much progress the Ramsgate squad has made in a very short time.

The Under 14s played Cobham Colts in the County Cup and progressed to the next round after a 14-0 victory at Southwood.

The Under 13s were away at Ashford Borough and lost 6-1, the young Rams’ goal coming from Ollie Harris.

East Kent Youth League

The Under 18s played Herne Bay Youth at Pfizer in the league, having beaten then in the Leaue cup 5-1 last week. At half-time the Rams were 3-1 up, like last week, with 2 from James Olver and 1 from Jack Paine, while in the 2nd half Janes Olver completed his hat-trick with Ollie Sharp getting the 5th, to make it 5-1 (again).

The Under 16s travelled to Hythe Stars & Stripes with the hope of overturning a 2-1 loss in their last home game a fortnight ago, this being the reverse fixture. The Rams started well from the off with new signing Arthur Ruffy showing promise on the right flank up front, providing a couple of decent balls into the box for the Rams’ forwards to attack. Some neat football continued from midfield to the forwards and six sublime passes saw the Rams go 1-0 up after 15mins from Jolie Treadgold. Ramsgate continued to press and Ryan Cambray made it 2-0 with a strike on the half hour. The Rams still looked dangerous and both Conor Buddle and Jordan Goodwin worked tirelessly down the attacking midfield flanks, with Hadyn Thomas and Jak Hughes resolute in their midfield and defensive roles respectively. ‘Keeper Harry Kirkby was called on to make two superb saves prior to the interval but alas Hythe nicked one to go in 2-1 down to the Rams at the break. In the second half the Rams went from the front again to go 3-1 up through a Cambray header only to see Hythe score at the other end in 90 seconds! Jak Hughes continued his joint man of the match performance at the back for the Rams whilst at the other end Cambray shared the accolade with a sublimely finished third to complete his hat-trick. Hythe continued to press and nicked one more, but a number of chances fell the Rams’ way in the second half that were not converted, which led to an anxious last 5 minutes with Ramsgate sealing the away win 4-3. Niall Turner also warrants a mention for his tireless work in the middle of the park again this week.

The Under 14s played Deal Town at Pfizer but eventually lost 2-1. The Rams’ goal came from Ross Griffin while Billy Ingram failed to convert a 2^nd half penalty and Ray Greensmith picked up Man of the Match.

The Under 13s welcomed Kennington to St Lukes but lost 3-0. Player of the Match for the young Rams went to Charlie Wood.

The Under 12s visited Kennington in the League Cup and had a very disappointing result in a match that they should have won quite comfortably. They had all the possession and all of the chances, but they were up against a Kennington ‘keeper in fine form, who denied Ramsgate on numerous occasions. With the score 0-0 at half time Ramsgate always looked like the team who would break the deadlock, but it wasn’t to be. Kennington were awarded a penalty after Alex the Rams’ ‘keeper was adjudged to have brought down the Kennington striker in the box. The decision seemed very harsh and even a discussion with the lino would not change the ref’s mind. Kennington duly scored the penalty and led 1-0 with about 10 minutes of the game left to play. The young Rams threw everything they could at Kennington after this, then in the last throes of the game Billy Walker lofted in a super corner that was met by Deco Walker with a thumping header that hit the bar, rebounded out hitting a Kennington player and crossing the line, the whistle blew within seconds of the Rams equalising, so it was all down to penalties. The penalty taking from both sides was abysmal however, with Kennington winning 2-1.