By Darius Sarrafan
Ramsgate made it eleven wins in a row on Saturday but were pushed all the way by a determined East Grinstead Town side at the WW Martin Community Stadium. An unchanged team was named following on from the impressive 5-1 win away at Broadbridge Heath the previous Tuesday.
In front of yet another huge crowd, the Rams begun the game well, and forced their first opportunity of the game in the second minute. Again, their set piece prowess was on display from the off as Joe Ellul had a header deflected wide from a perfectly flighted Roarie Deacon corner. The visitors then went close in the ninth minute after Connor Tighe turned and shot just wide from twelve yards.
It was the home side who were having the better of proceedings though, with East Grinstead happy to sit back and keep men behind the ball. Josh Ajayi forced Wasps goalkeeper Matte Pierson into a good low save at his near post after being found by a lovely pass from Lewis Gard, before Ellul was denied by Pierson after directing another header towards goal after a set piece was delivered into the box.
Jay Leader was next to go close as the home side continued to cause issues from corners – this time Pierson made a fine save to tip the ball over. Captain Joe Taylor then had a shot well blocked from inside the box having been found by Alfie Paxman in the 34th minute. Against the run of play, the visitors took the lead from a rare foray forward. A long ball was latched onto by Tighe, and he kept his composure to fire a low shot beyond Tom Hadler from 15 yards to give the Wasps a shock lead.
Despite more pressure from Ramsgate, East Grinstead managed to see out the half to take their 1-0 lead into the interval. The respite was short lived, however, as the Rams equalised from their first attack of the second half. Intricate play around the edge of the box resulted in Gard clipping another lovely pass in behind for Ajayi, and this time the winger did enough to bundle the ball home to bag a deserved equaliser.
East Grinstead had an opportunity to retake the lead shortly after, but Hadler came out of his goal well to smother a low shot from Alex Andrade Felipe after Tighe’s pass had set him clear down the left. Gard was the next to go close for Ramsgate in the 58th minute, getting himself to a cross into the box but he just couldn’t divert his effort towards goal. TJ Jadama then forced Pierson into a fine low save following a header from Paxman’s cross six minutes later.
It seemed that a second Ramsgate goal was inevitable- and it duly arrived in the 69th minute. Another pinpoint corner from Deacon was headed emphatically into the back of the net by Leader, sending the masses ranks of Rams fans behind the goal into raptures. The home side were rarely threatened after this in truth, and could’ve added to their lead late on through Taylor, but Pierson came out of his goal well to deny him.
Charlie Harris was shown a straight red card with five minutes to go following an awful, studs-up challenge on Tom Clifford, but thankfully the Rams left back wasn’t hurt. The hosts saw the game out comfortably to record yet another victory. They are next in action with a trip to Burgess Hill Town this coming Saturday.
Rams: Hadler, Deacon, Ellul, Leader, Clifford, Gard, Munday, Jadama, Ajayi (Bioletti), Paxman (Aibangbee), Taylor. Subs: Garrett, Barnes, Robbens.
Star man: Jay Leader.
Ramsgate 2-1 East Grinstead Town
