20 Nov – Youth Round-Up

Four League and one cup games for the Kent Youth League teams, and three and one for the East Kent Youth League teams today. In the KYL the Under 18s beat Whitstable Town, the Under 15s drew at Sittingbourne, the Under 14s won at Bearsted, and the Under 13s beat Vinters. In the Kent FA Cup the Under 16s beat Corinthian. In the EKYL the Under 18s won at Highfield, the Under 16s drew against Margate Youth, and the Under 12s lost to Hawkinge Youth. The Under 13s knocked Ashford out of the League Cup while the Under 14s were without a game.

Kent Youth League

The Under 18s visited Whitstable Town and brought back all three points after a 5-1 win. The Rams’ goals came from substitute Mitchell Knight (2), Tom Chapman, Oli Frewin and Shane Mitchell, while Chris Rigden failed to convert a penalty. Whitstable’s consolation goal came from Gary Vizzard, one of 5 ex-Rams in Whitstable’s line-up.

The Under 16s put on the performance of the season when they played host to Corinthian in the KCFA Cup at Southwood. Both teams started strong and possession equalled throughout the first half with the Rams’ midfield of Jack Granger, Jarrett Francis, Ben Munday and Josh McAteer battling hard against a strong midfield for the Corinthian along with the home defence snubbing out any attacks the visitors forward line had to offer in the first half. The second half continued as did the first with both teams settling down to play some free flowing football and when Dominic Crawford found himself free on the edge of the box with only the approaching  ‘keeper to beat Ramsgate should have taken the lead, but with the ‘keeper beaten the usually clinical Crawford shot wide. The Rams continued with the pressure and were starting to dominate the game but still no real opportunity to open the scoring until Crawford hit a cheeky half volley at the edge of the area to lob the keeper and make amends for his earlier miss. Straight from the restart Corinthian went on the attack and if not for a great save from Harry Brooks in the Rams’ goal the sides would have been level again straight away, but with just one minute left of normal time Corinthian threw everything at the Rams’ defence, which paid off with the equaliser to take the game to extra time. If conceding a late goal in this cup tie could have deflated the home side they didn’t show it, and their strong character showed through and they battled back to take the lead. Corinthian were finding it hard to regain possession and gave away several fouls around their area, but the Rams were unable to make the  free kicks pay off with a goal, but with two minutes left on the clock Ben Munday’s free kick came off the post and Kane Rowland, following in as ever, picked up the rebound to fire home. Man of the Match was given to Jarrett Francis by Stuart McAteer for a great performance in mid-field, while Jordon Box impressed at left back.

The Under 15s were a shade fortunate to gain a point from this away encounter on a bumpy pitch at Bourne Park. The home side were quicker out of the blocks and imposed themselves on the game for the entire 1^st half, and scored 2 goals and were well worth their half-time lead. The interval came and allowed the Rams to re-group and focus on getting back into this game. They re-started much brighter and pinned the home side back and scored an early goal from a corner, after an almighty scramble in the 6 yd box, it was finally finished off by Adam Turton. This gave the Rams the much needed encouragement to find an equaliser, which duly came with 15 minutes left, for what is at present, “the goal of the season”. The loose ball was cleared fully 40 yds from goal and Jack Penny struck it sweetly first time, it arrowed into the top corner giving the ‘keeper no chance and levelling the score at 2-2. Both sides then pushed for a winner but to no avail. A fair result on the day and with these 2 sides meeting next week in the County Cup a good match is expected.

The Under 14s travelled to League rivals Bearsted on a damp morning to league rivals Bearsted and quickly took the game to the home side. After early domination, Sam Bone struck from distance only to see the ball rebound off the bar. Harris Rodgers also beat the ‘keeper only for the bar to rescue the home side again.  As half time beckoned Bearsted started to come back into the game and Josh Bexon pulled off a smart save. The second half saw Ramsgate start to raise the tempo and Gianni Birch sent a ball through for Brandon Adam to slot passed the keeper to take the lead. Bearsted kept trying to break down the Ramsgate defence but Delaney, Munday, Paxman and Brown held firm. Ramsgate made a flurry of chances with Rodgers causing mayhem with his pace but the ball would not go in. Rodgers and Seb Rowland both hit the post and James Mileham came close with the Bearstead keeper making some good saves. Bearsted played an excellent game but Ramsgate proved the stronger on the day and top the table.

The Under 13s welcomed Maidstone side Vinters to the Ellington & Hereson school and claimed all three points with a 3-1 win. The Rams took the game to their opponents from the start and put the run of defeats behind them. It was the Rams who took the lead 10 minutes into the game when Louis Clarke put a ball through to Ollie Harris who found the corner of the net. Strong defending from George Lawry-Johns, James Thayre, Jack Field and new signing Ryan Bicknell kept Vinters quiet, but a slip of concentration let the opponents back in the game just before half-time. In the second half the Rams still looked dangerous and midfielders Louis Bailey, Michael Curtis, Jake Nutt and Archie Lane worked tirelessly, providing the Rams their second goal when Jake Nutt headed a ball over the Vinters’ defence to set Ollie Harris who volleyed home for his second. The visitors still created chances, which kept Ben Pledger busy between the sticks. With just 5 minutes remaining, new signing Tristan Bygraves received the ball and linked up with Louis Bailey who slotted the ball through to Ryan Lewis who fired home to take the final score to 3-1…  Great performance boys!

East Kent Youth League

The Under 18s were away to Highstead and continued their recent winning streak win a 3-1 victory. Dean James and Jack Paine scored first to give the Rams’ a 2-0 lead break, with Jack Paine getting his 2^nd (and the Rams’ 3^rd) in the 2^nd half.

The Under 16s welcomed Margate Youth to St Lukes for a fiercely contested battle between the Rams, whose confidence was boosted after a good win last week, and an unbeaten Margate team. Things started well for Ramsgate who dominated early possession, the first real opportunity falling to Ryan Cambra when his expertly timed run put him through one-on-one with the Margate ‘keeper, but his attempted lob was plucked out of the air. Leading from the back, skipper Brad Attwood controlled his back line well, and between the skipper and Haden Thomas, Margate could not penetrate the defence. The Rams were largely in control of the game due to some tenacious old fashioned midfield work by Niall Turner, Louis Coot, Conor Buddle, and Arther Ruffy, and the first half finished as it began, with Ramsgate posing the most threat. Both teams came out with determination for the 2nd half, with Margate trying to move the ball down both wings only to be faced with Liam Gallop and Jak Hughes, who stood their ground dealing with everything Margate throw at them. On the one occasion they got the better of the Rams’ defence the Margate winger was denied by a tremendous one handed diving save at his near post by Harry Kirkby, and the resulting corner cleared off the line by a flying Louis Coot. The Rams re-grouped and started to pressure the Margate defence once again and some slick passing between Jorden Goodwin, Niall, Ryan and Liam Rodam led to the Rams’ best chance, as Jolie Tredgold danced through the Margate defence only to be foiled by ‘keeper’s trailing foot. Time ran out for both teams however, and a gallant effort saw Ramsgate the only team to take points off of a frustrated Margate team this season, with the final score 0-0.

The Under 14s were without a game today.

The Under 13s  travelled to Ashford Borough for their cup match where a great team performance put them through to the next round. A solid performance starting from Eaton-Brown in goal, through to ‘Player of the Match’ Tulloch at centre back, along with his defending team mates Fish and Barry, all the while supported by Morley just ahead of them. The mid-field of Wood, Perriam, Munday and Kemp linked up well with Stamatiou and Percival up front, continuously creating chance after chance. At half time the score was 0-3 to the Rams, with goals coming from Stamatiou, Perriam and Wood. Starting the second half it was more of the same and both Perriam and Stamatiou scoring one apiece. Towards the end the Rams noticeably began to tire as they had no subs available for support and a rest. This showed as Ashford managed to pull 2 goals back, while the Rams hit the crossbar, post or just missed. When the final whistle blew, the Rams had won 2-5 and go through to the next round where they face tough opposition so must build on this great win and continue to improve.

The Under 12s had another game full of incident, and another game where the 3 points slipped away from them. The first half was a very even affair with both sides defending well but neither side creating much of an opening, neither goalkeepers getting more than the barest touch of the ball. The second half was a lot livelier with the young Rams upping the tempo and going on the attack. They kept possession for long periods and sensed a goal coming, but when it did come it was adjudged not to have crossed the line. Big appeals from the Ramsgate players fell on deaf ears. Next came a penalty for the boys that Finlay McConnell stepped up to take, the ‘keeper saved well and Finlay blasted the rebound over the bar. A Scott Roddam rocket of a free kick was goal bound but somehow the Hawkinge ‘keeper turned it round the post. Then, against the run of play and assisted by some slack defending, Hawkinge took the lead. With only minutes left Hawkinge grabbed a second goal from a corner for a final score of 2-0 to the visitors. It’s the return fixture next week and, with the rub of the green, the boys should reverse this result.