After a few weeks break it was back to action for the Reserves away at Folkestone. With the team sharing top spot with VCD it was a chance for the Rams to claim pole position on their own. With Jimmy Cole playing for his school, Josh Merry ill, Dan Hughes and Dan Langiano injured, and Courtney Robinson otherwise unavailable, it was a chance for some new faces and squad players to claim a regular starting position.

 

The game started at a fast pace with the Rams making the early running and Joe Hickman’s strong tackling bossing the midfield, and within 10 minutes you could see how the rest of the game was going to pan out. A heavy wet pitch, Folkestone getting men behind the ball and two teams looking like they had enjoyed christmas a little too much. New signing 20 year old James Etherington seemed very comfortable at right back, having been out for a year or so through injury, and the former Grimsby player and cousin of Stoke winger Matt Etherington lasted 60 minutes on his come back and seems to have all the attributes of a very good player. As the game went on it got very scrappy and became an unnessary battle, with the pitch making it an even game and the Ram’s normal flowing football becoming difficult to play.

 

Aaron Beech made his comeback in the Second half, and with young midfielder Ryan Freedman also coming on, suddenly the Rams looked dangerous. Freedman’s pace was causing havoc down the Folkestone left and Beech’s eagerness to get forward posed a new threat. It was Beech who had probably the Rams best two efforts near the end of the game, his first was a volley from an angle off a Freedman cross but the Folkstone keeper managed to push it round the post, and then in the final minutes Beech struck a powerful volley from outside the box but again it was too near the keeper.

 

Afterwards manager Phil Fennell said “Overall, away from home, on a boggy pitch, against a determined Folkestone side we kept a clean sheet. We have to look at it this as a positive result, which takes us top of the league. It was another fantastic performance from defensive duo Anthony Woodward and Andy Johnston, who are getting stronger together each week. Their attitude and commitment to the team should be an example to others at the club. Another one I need to mention is Neil Hoggart, who had his best game of the season today. Neil has a great attitude and whether he is in the starting line up, sub or sometimes not even in the squad, he still encourages the team and works hard, he acts like a real professional and this is a great attitude for a player to have.”