Ramsgate chairman fears the drop following four-point deduction

RAMSGATE chairman Richard Lawson says performances must improve if the club are to avoid the drop from the Ryman Premier League, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Rams lost their appeal at The Football Association earlier in the week and their four point deduction means they are now one place off the foot of the table with only seven games to go.

Hastings United, who arrive at Southwood Stadium at the weekend, climbed away from the relegation zone following their 2-2 draw at play-off chasing Carshalton Athletic last night, and this is a must-win game according to Mr Lawson.

“To be quite honest, we always knew it was going to be difficult on the appeal,” Mr Lawson told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“I’m even more disappointed on the performance we’ve put in last week and of course in one or two other recent games.

“Some weeks we’ve been absolutely superb, and there have been other weeks where we’ve been very, very poor.

“Consistency really is the name of the game and we haven’t hit those levels.”

Having lost 3-1 at fellow strugglers Hendon last weekend, the club are seven points from safety, taking goal-difference into account, and following their points deduction this week, Mr Lawson knows relegation is a possibility.

“To be honest, anyone who has seen us this year, everyone says we’re too good to go down,” he said.

“Now, no ones too good to go down, we know that, we understand that, but the fact of the matter is, we’re a good, strong outfit.

“We’ve probably made mistakes trying to do to much too soon, we’ve lost 75% of our team last year, to Dover and others. Some players we relied on this year to build the team around and it hasn’t worked for one reason or another.

“It’s not a tight budget this year, it’s a budget more than quite a few more than a few Ryman League teams but we’ve had a total rebuild.”

But if Ramsgate do suffer relegation, Mr Lawson revealed the club are in a position to make an immediate return to the Ryman Premier League.

“Everything about Ramsgate Football Club is positive,” he said. “We don’t owe the tax man or the VAT man no money, most of our bills are paid on time - and not many clubs can say that!”

Visit Ramsgate’s website: www.ramsgate-fc.co.uk

Ramsgate v Hastings United
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 21^st March 2009
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Southwood Stadium, Prices Avenue, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 0AN