By pitchside reporter Andy Mason
Corinthian 2 Ramsgate 1
60 Mahoney 44 Chiedozie
66 Oloyede
It was a very autumnal day, slightly on the cold side, at Gay Meadow Farm in the deep Kent countryside, the sound of cars racing at Brands Hatch was like the sound of a drone of bees.
The Rams started briskly, trying to bounce back after a run of losses. They pinned Corinthian back with the pressure building. However, in the 9th minute the best chance of the game so far fell to Corinthians number 9 Oloyede as he fired well over the Rams bar.
The game settled down with a very steady flow and Corinthians came more into the match. The 25th minute saw a golden opportunity for Oloyede as he beat the last man and was one on one with Russell in the Rams goal, only to fire his shot wide of the left hand post, just minutes later the same player was through again forcing Russell to save with his feet.
Miller for the Rams had a great opportunity and fired his shot from just inside the box, beating Prall the Corinthian keeper only to bounce back off the crossbar. It was Rams best effort by the stage. Just approaching half time and it was the Rams on the attack, Lear down the right crossed and Peck was on the end of it firing just wide of the Corinthian goal.
The 44th minute saw TJ Jadama tear through the opposition, down the right he squared the ball across to Chiedozie in the middle to fire Rams into the lead half time.
Rams subbed Miller at the start of the second half, bringing on Ajayi who was instantly involved and made an impact on the Rams left. The Corinthian defence seemed to struggle against his pace and guile. Some great link up play between Ajayi and Chiedozie saw Ajayi fire a shot straight at the keeper. Rams certainly looked the stronger in the early part of the second half.
In the 60th minute Corinthian equalised in a very contentious manner when Rams keeper Russell was bundled into the net which to all but the officials appeared to be a foul but the goal was awarded.
Just after this Chiedozie had just the keeper to beat but he went for power over placement and the ball ballooned over the bar. At the 66th minute Corinthian were awarded a free kick which Rams fans thought should have gone the other way. Resulting from this the ball was played into an unmarked Oloyede who simply headed home to give Corinthian the lead. The game became niggly with numerous fouls being committed and was ebbing away from the Rams.
Entering the 3 minutes of added time Ajayi popped up for one last effort that was blocked by Billings for Corinthian, the full time whistle blew and it was another defeat for the Rams.
Teams:
Corinthian in green hoops, green shorts
Prall, Holland, Trueman, James, Billings, Sawyer, Tobon, Miller, Oloyede, Mahoney, Dembele
Subs: Lashley, Stirman, Clarke, Edmunson, Atkinson
Ramsgate in all yellow
Russell, Cotton, Prescott, Emptage, Olopade, Jadama, Chiedozie, Miller, Lear, McIntyre, Aboagie,
Subs: Smith, Ajayi, Bunn, Takalobighashi, Baker-Moran
Man of the match: James Billings for Corinthian
Photo by J Emmins action in the Corinthian box.