By Darius Sarrafan
Ten man Ramsgate left it very late but grabbed a fully deserving victory against Bracknell Town to progress to the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.
Callum Jones last gasp goal sent the crowd at Southwood into raptures – with barely enough time left on the clock to restart the game.
The Rams were dominant throughout and in reality should’ve won the game comfortably, but a mixture of bad luck and inspired goalkeeping from Zaki Oualah kept the score goalless until the final stages.
Bivesh Gurung and the excellent Jacob Bland both hit the woodwork in the first period – the latter a real piledriver from 20 yards and the former having hit the frame of the goal twice.
Billy Munday twice went close with headers and Alfie Paxman also narrowly shot off target twice. The visitors rarely threatened – with the closest they came to a goal resulting in a fortuitous bounce which left Johnny Henly scrambling to save.
The home side were reduced to ten men just five minutes into the second half after Dave Winfield was shown a straight red card for raising his hands to a Bracknell player, but the Rams continued to boss the game despite being a man down.
Raphe Brown had a goal disallowed for an apparent push before Oualah saved well from Paxman and Gurung in quick succession. Oualah again had to make a smart save from Tom Clifford as Ramsgate continued to press for a winner despite being a man down.
Munday’s point blank header deflected just over the bar, before sub Solomon Ogunwomoju’s cross was turned home from close range by in form Callum Jones for his seventh goal in seventh game deep into injury time.
The winning goal sparked wild scenes, with the Rams deservedly into the hat for the next round. They are next in action with a trip to Burgess Hill Town this coming Saturday 12th September, with a 3pm kick off scheduled.
Ramsgate: Henly, Lukombo (Ampadu), Winfield, Brown, Clifford, Gurung, Bland, Munday, Jones, Paxman, Liburd (Ogunwomoju). Subs: Wright, Lewis, Cotton, Mann, James. Star man: Jacob Bland
