Rams bow out of Velocity cup after penalty shoot-out

By Darrius Sarrafan

Sevenoaks win against Rams 7-6 on penalties

An impressive 355 supporters at the WW Martin Community Stadium, the largest crowd of the night in Kent, saw a heavily rotated Rams side bow out of the velocity cup after a penalty shoot-out.

The Rams came into this match having won all 9 previous games, their best ever start to a season and club statisticians also believe it to be an all time record breaking run of wins for any stage of a campaign.

Ultimately the tie was decided by a penalty shootout, with Sevenoaks coming out 7-6 victors. The turning point came as early on 25 minutes, when referee Scott Judd showed Lee Martin two successive yellow cards in the space of 10 seconds.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Ramsgate continued to dominate possession and were almost rewarded when TJ Jadama found himself in space in the area but the Sevenoaks defence managed to make successive blocks to deny the Rams taking the lead.

The breakthrough for Sevenoaks came in the 71st minute after good work down the wing from Jefferson Aibangbee. It appeared that he pulled down TT Walters in the build up, but the referee waved play on and his touch found Majekodunmi in the six yard box to prod home.

Ramsgate however weren’t going to let their record fall easily and were back on level terms within three minutes. The tireless Jadama played a one-two with Vance Bola, and then weaved his way through the Sevenoaks defence to cut back to find a grateful Bola, who slotted home.

Chances were few and far between for the final 20 minutes and the tie petered out to a stalemate and penalties. Early penalties were slotted home well, but the first miss came from Ramsgate’s Medy Elito after trying an audacious shot with his leading foot that was read by the Sevenoaks keeper.

Parity was restored immediately though as Henry Newcombe got down well to even up the contest. That is how it stayed until the eighth round of penalties, and it was Myles Judd that unfortunately missed. This meant it would be Sevenoaks that advanced into the next round of the Velocity Cup.