By Darius Sarrafan
Ramsgate slipped to a 3-1 defeat to Cray Valley PM, who progressed to the first round of the FA Trophy on a sunny afternoon at the WW Martin Community Stadium.
The hosts had plenty of the ball and tried to fashion chances, but ran into a well drilled Miller side who were streetwise and showed ruthlessness when they needed to.
The Rams made five changes from the side that performed so well at Brackley last weekend, with Aaron Barnes, Tom Carlse, Medy Elito, Josh Ajayi and TT Walters all coming in from the start. The game started in typically cagey fashion, with the Rams enjoying possession but the Millers breaking with purpose when they had the ball.
Tom Hadler was called into action to save a Julian Anau shot before the visitors took the lead after fourteen minutes. Freddie Parker did well to intercept the ball in midfield and he drove forward before rolling a ball into the path of Matthew Vigor, who turned and struck his shot into the bottom-right corner to give the visitors the lead.
Ten minutes later, the Millers doubled their lead. Parker once again intercepted a Ramsgate pass, this time from Tom Carlse. He kept his cool to beat Hadler, albeit at the second attempt despite the best efforts of Barnes on the line. The Millers bagged their third goal three minutes later. The lively Fumnaya Shomoton played a through ball to Parker, who finished superbly by dinking the ball over the onrushing Hadler.
Michael Ademiluyi had a shot saved by the Rams’ custodian before Ramsgate desperately went searching for a way back into the game. They found it on 37 minutes, after Josh Ajayi had made a surging run in the right channel. His pullback found Joe Taylor, who prodded the ball home at the second attempt to give the home side hope. The Millers lost influential midfielder Vigor just before the interval, with Lyle Della-Verde coming on to replace him. 3-1 to Cray Valley is how it remained at the interval.
The Rams looked to try and build on their momentum late in the first half to try and get back into the game in the second half. The visitors, however, showed plenty of guile in their approach – and had the better of the chances in truth. First, Shomotun went close before Parker saw a header go wide of Hadler’s goal. Della-Verde then shot over the bar twice in quick succession as the Millers looked to add to their lead.
Ramsgate had chances of their own, with Josh Ajayi cutting inside before firing over the bar after 77 minutes, before Jay Leader saw a header well saved by Max Ovenden five minutes later. Despite plenty of possession, Ramsgate couldn’t get another goal to give them hope – and the visitors saw the game out well in the end.
Focus now turns to the league campaign, and the Rams will be looking to continue their fine start to the season when they host Sheppey United this coming Saturday 12th October at the WW Martin Community Stadium. Kickoff is at 3pm.
Ramsgate: Hadler, Judd, Barnes, Leader, Carlse (Paxman), Clifford, Elito (Deacon), Gard, Walters (Bioletti), Ajayi, Taylor. Subs: McGill, Newcombe
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