By Darius Sarrafan
Ramsgate made it 11 wins out of 12 in their league campaign with a 3-2 win, but they were made to sweat late on as a strong Ashford United comeback fell short.
It was a crazy ending to the game in which Ashford scored twice in the closing minutes, with goalkeeper Henry Newcombe also sent off late on. Newcombe replaced the injured Tom Hadler, with Aaron Barnes also replacing Lee Martin.
The Rams gradually found themselves on top early on, and Alfie Paxman forced home goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney into a save low to his left on seven minutes. Two minutes later, Beeney had to be alert to push a Billy Munday shot wide, before Ashford’s Louis Collins had a volley deflected wide shortly afterwards. Collins again went close in the 24th minute as his shot from the left side of the penalty area was pushed wide by Newcombe.
Ramsgate kept probing, playing some lovely football and keeping the ball for long periods. It was, however, a moment of individual brilliance that would give them the lead in the 39th minute. Taylor picked up the ball thirty yards from goal and with the Ashford defence backing off him, he curled the ball superbly into the right corner of Beeney’s goal to make it 1-0. William Duprey curled a shot over for Ashford just before the break, but the Rams went into the interval a goal to the good.
Ramsgate came flying out of the blocks in the second half, and doubled their lead in the 49th minute. A perfectly flighted corner from Roarie Deacon was headed home by the excellent Munday for his second consecutive midweek goal. Six minutes later and it was 3-0, as TJ Jadama picked up the ball and, from the inside left position, drove inside and unleashed a beautiful curling strike that found the top right corner of Beeney’s goal.
Paxman forced Beeney into a low save in the 61st minute, before Newcombe picked up the first of his bookings for clattering into Preston Kedwell just outside the box. Harrison Hume curled the resulting free kick over the bar. Ashford started pushing more men forward, with Ramsgate continuing to carry a threat on the counter.
The game burst back into life in the 88th minute, when Collins curled a free kick into the back of the net from 22 yards. This gave Ashford a huge lift, and they were buoyed even more when eight minutes of additional time was signalled by referee Marcin Indyk. In the sixth of those minutes, Ashford made it 3-2 as Mack Reilly finished low past Newcombe from twelve yards.
Referee Indyk deemed Newcombe to have been time wasting over a goal kick three minutes later, and he showed the Ramsgate keeper his second yellow card. A red card duly followed, and it was big Joe Ellul who pulled on the goalkeeper’s jersey and gloves in his place.
The Rams held on despite the late onslaught, and were able to travel back to Thanet with three more well earned points. They are next in action this Saturday with a home game against Steyning Town at the WW Martin Community Stadium. There will be a Remembrance service before kick off on the pitch before the game.
Ramsgate: Newcombe, Barnes (Judd), Ellul, Leader, Clifford, Munday, Deacon, Jadama, Ajayi (Garrett), Paxman, Taylor. Subs: Gard, Brisley, Todd.
