|
The
home side started the stronger, in the first Ryman League fixture to be
played at Southwood on a Saturday, and were rewarded when Steffan Ball
lobbed James Wastell in the visitors’ goal on seven minutes to take the
lead, writes Arran Ayres.
Whyteleafe clearly thought that a physical approach was the way to break
up the Rams’ passing game, and Danny Oakins was lucky not to have been
penalised more than a free kick for his scything tackle into the back of
Shane Suter on 13 minutes.
Ramsgate maintained the pressure and, three minutes later, a rifling shot
by Ball went just over Whyteleafe’s crossbar, whilst a minute later
James Gregory released Michael Yianni, whose great pass to Ball saw the
striker’s volley just over again.
Whyteleafe were managing occasional breaks and, although these had been
failing to break through the Rams’ defence, in the 19th
minute a free kick was awarded to the visitors.
Former Cray Wanderers', Bromley and Erith & Belvedere winger, Mark
Hammond’s free kick was precisely placed in the top right corner of
Danny Twyman’s goal, beating both the wall and the ‘keeper, to level
the score.
The
half progressed in similar fashion, and in the 24th minute
Oakins finally received a caution for an elbow in Twyman’s face.
A few minutes later a slip by James Gregory gave Whyteleafe a corner,
which called for a good save from Twyman.
The Rams responded and under pressure Whyteleafe’s Hamlin headed back to
Wastell but almost put the Rams in front again.
Shaun Welford continued battling hard up front for the Rams, beating
defenders but failing to find the back of the net.
On 32 minutes Whyteleafe’s Andrew Martin was shown the red card for
kicking Gregory in the stomach.
Welford nearly headed home from a corner on 40 minutes, and a few minutes
later received a lovely through ball from Mark Munday, but again failed to
score.
As the half came to a close, Michael Yianni made a great run past two
defenders and into the area, where Hamlin took him out, but referee Gavin
Hoare failed to award what looked like a certain penalty.
At the interval it was all-square on goals, but not on cards, and Hamlin
was added to the visitor’s tally as the teams walked off the pitch.
In
the second half the Rams came out looking even more dominant, and five
minutes later Gregory’s pass to Ball was crossed beautifully into the
area, where Suter made no mistake with his header to put the Rams in front
again.
Whyteleafe made a double substitution on 55 minutes, with Lewis Taylor
replacing Bradley Drake and Kevin Lock replacing goalscorer Hammond. A
minute later the Rams made their first change, with Warren Schulz
replacing Ben Laslett.
A couple of minutes later Whyteleafe’s Chris Head also received a
caution, and a minute after that Leafe’s manager Stuart Massey brought
himself on in place of Oakins.
The change of shape helped Whyteleafe win another corner on 61 minutes,
which Lee Sidwell put across well forcing Twyman to tip it over.
A minute later the already cautioned Head made a very late challenge on
Welford, but only a free kick was awarded.
In the 63rd minute a long throw from Liam Morris fell right in
the middle of the goalmouth and whilst Welford and ‘keeper Wastell both
went for the ball, both missed it.
Whyteleafe continued to battle however, and on 64 minutes Tony Martin
fired over Twyman’s goal.
In
the 68th minute Ramsgate made their second substitution, with
Stuart Vahid replacing goalscorer Suter. On 75 minutes a great run by
Stuart Vahid was completed with an inch-perfect cross that was headed by
Warren Schulz, which called for an equally great save by Wastell.
A minute later and a Yianni free kick was flicked on by Munday, which
Vahid headed wide. A final substitution by the Rams on 81 minutes, with
David Cory replacing Welford.
Two minutes later a good run by Edd Vahid ended with a brilliant cross to
Ball, whose header went just over the bar. Then another cross from Stuart
Vahid on the left wing was met by Warren Schulz, who headed the ball back
into the danger area where Douce managed to head it into his own goal.
The score was not to remain at 3-1, however, and two minutes later Yianni
ran through from 25yards out, beating two defenders, and slotted the ball
into the bottom right corner to give the Rams another.
Within a minute Yianni had collected the ball in the midfield again, and
after a snaking run across the pitch, to the left and then right of
two defenders, found Warren Schulz charging up from the left, who fired
home into the top right corner from 25yds to make the final score 5-1.
In an EXCLUSIVE interview with www.kentishfootball.co.uk
Rams' boss Jim Ward was not very happy with the way Whyteleafe went about
things.
He said: "I was disappointed with Whyteleafe. I was led to
believe they were a bit of a family club and yet afterwards the committee
were very good and all stayed to watch the England game and there was no
sign of trouble whatsoever.
"But on the pitch, I'm not sure how many got booked, they had one
sent off for violent conduct, and they should have had another two players
sent off for the same reason.
"I am disappointed with the way they went about things.
"To be fair we bossed the game from start to finish. We had
sixteen attempts on goal to their five - statistics speak for themselves
as ten were on target."
|
Kentish Football 
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd