Staines Town 2-1 Ramsgate - Ward fury over costly penalty decision

Staines Town striker, Richard Butler, pressurised by Ramsgate defender Ollie Schulz, sent his header over the top of the near-post after 55 minutes, only for Cheam based referee Mr Carl Berry to point to the penalty spot.

Dave Sargent stepped up and drilled his left-footed penalty into the bottom left-hand corner, despite the efforts of the diving Paul Wilkerson, who had guessed the right way, to give the west London side a deserved lead.

Staines went on to double their lead with fifteen minutes remaining through an Andre Scarlett’s screamer before Rams substitute Simon Pettit headed home a consolation goal from close range with four minutes left.

The Swans will host AFC Wimbledon in Saturday’s final in front of an ALL-TICKET crowd of 2,500, after the Dons defeated AFC Hornchurch 3-1 at Kingmeadow tonight.

Wimbledon’s goalscorers are well known to fans of Maidstone United and Tonbridge Angels - Luis Cumbers and two-goal hero Jon Main.

Tonight’s match didn’t start well for the Rams.

Heavy rain, which caused traffic chaos on the M25, prevented the Thanet side getting to Wheatsheaf Park in good time, and after persuading Mr Berry, the match kicked off 15 minutes late at 8pm.

That gave numerous ground staff an opportunity to work on the playing surface right up until kick-off, although there were still areas that held the ball up in puddles.

Staines, who finished their 42-match Ryman Premier League campaign in second place, had the game’s opening chance inside the first four minutes.

A cross from Sargent, on the right-hand side, was met by a downward header from Adrian Toppin, which flew past the right-hand post from eight-yards out.

However, the west London side squandered an excellent chance after 20 minutes.

Top-scorer Mark Nwokeji latched onto a pass down the left-hand side and burst into the Ramsgate penalty area, only to drag his angled shot from ten-yards past the far-post.

Rams defender Ollie Schulz was the first player to be booked for a foul on Nwokeji, in a central position and from the resulting set-piece, the impressive right-sided midfielder Scarlett can count himself very unlucky not to score from his right-footed free-kick from 28-yards, which curled agonisingly over the top of the right-hand post.

The closest that Ramsgate came arrived in the 25^th minute when midfield general Lee Minshull sent a right-footed shot from thirty-yards, which curled over.

Then Sam Jones, a midfielder who was only playing Sunday League football in March, dinked the ball over the on-rushing Staines goalkeeper, only to see the ball sail over the crossbar.

But Ramsgate had calls for an injury time penalty waved away by Mr Berry as Nick Davis was upended inside the six-yard box following a scramble, only for the free-kick to go the other way, and Minshull stabbing the ball into the net from eight-yards was all in vain, as the whistle had already sounded in Staines’ favour.

It took Ramsgate 50 minutes to register their first corner, and from it, they almost grabbed the lead.

Jones whipped in flag-kick from the left, was met by skipper Warren Schulz at the far-post, only to glance his header past the right-hand post from eight-yards.

But the 55^th minute penalty incident left Ramsgate boss Jim Ward angry.

Butler sent his header over the top of the near post, only for the referee to point to the spot, and once Butler returned to his feet following treatment, Sargent made no mistake from the spot.

Slick Staines went in search for a second, as Ramsgate were content to soak up the pressure that came their way.

Butler, in space on the right-hand side of the penalty area, drilled a left-footed shot, which brought a comfortable save from Wilkerson at his near post on the hour mark.

And Howard Newton thought he had scored five minutes later, drilling a left-footed angled shot just past the near post.

Warren Schulz had no way to go on the edge of the Staines penalty area after 70 minutes and poked the ball towards Scarlett, who happily accepted the gift, before racing down the right-hand side.

He then rolled the ball to Butler, whose right-footed drive from 25-yards sailed over.

Wilkerson was alert to make a comfortable save from Gareth Risbridger’s long-range effort soon after.

But Staines’ second arrived, timed at 29:08, which meant Ramsgate will remain in the Ryman Premier League next season.

A poor defensive header from Nick Davis enabled Scarlett to crack an unstoppable right-footed drive from twenty-yards, which flew past the diving Wilkerson and went in, via the left-post.

A low pass from Nwokeji carved open a chance for Howard Newton, who was in space, on the left-hand side of the penalty area, but his shot was beaten out by the advancing Wilkerson.

With all three substitutes now on the pitch, two of them combined for Ramsgate’s goal - timed at 38:35.

Dan Dolton’s cross from the right hand side was met by a near-post glancing header from Simon Pettit, which found the near-bottom corner from just three yards out, to score his third of the season.

Staines went on to miss a couple more chances, but Ward, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk  outside the boardroom afterwards, launched a scathing attack on referee Mr Berry over the penalty incident that cost his side a chance of promotion this weekend.

“We’ve had a great run haven’t we?” said a fuming Ward. “This leaves a bitter taste in the mouth tonight.

“We know the referee, he’s the one that sent Danny (Ward) off a few weeks ago. We knew from the start we wouldn’t get anything, and we didn’t!

“The penalty was a joke!

“We were right in the game, it’s end-to-end, it must have been a good game to watch.

“The conditions were a bit iffy and all that but what a soft penalty - the penalty came from nowhere and we were chasing, we’re chasing the game.

“They’ve scored another goal, only because we’ve changed the formation and we’ve tried to get more people up front.

“It was still an even game, except for the penalty.

“This sounds like sour grapes, it really sounds like sour grapes but the 5-600 people that were here tonight will tell you exactly the same.

“Even the linesman and the fourth official were shaking their heads!

“Why do they give a game, give big games like this, massive, massive games, we’ve worked all year to get into the play-off’s, earned the right to get into the play-off’s and get a boy like that, who doesn’t know his a**e from his elbow.”

Ward was pleased that two of his three substitutes had combined to bring the score back to 2-1 with six minutes remaining.

“We won’t like down and die,” Ward insisted. “That will stop the way we are.

“I put a couple of the younger lads on and it was 2-0 when we put them on and it was 12 minutes to go and we chased, we harried, we scored a good goal.”

Despite the bitter defeat, Ward was, however, proud of his team.

“My lads, well, what can I say about them?”

“We’ve won eight out of the last ten, drawn and lost one. In that period of time we’ve won the Isthmian League Cup, which is a great thing for us.”

Full credit, meanwhile, must go to the Ramsgate fans that sang their hearts out during and after the match.

If it wasn’t for them, then this showpiece match would have been played in total silence.

And Ward said: “They’re great! They’ve come from nowhere this year. We usually get 20 people on the players’ coach and now all of a sudden for the last ten weeks we’ve got about 150-200.

“It’s not just the ones that stand behind the goals, singing their hearts out, which they did for the whole ninety minutes, which is fantastic like.

“Disappointed for them but they’ve got nothing to be disappointed about because they’ve (the fans) have been absolutely fantastic this year and I think the boys have done them proud.”

Speaking about his players, back room staff, and club officials, Ward added: “I’m proud of them all tonight. Disappointed because of the way we’ve been let down by the officials - just the official.”

Cray Wanderers’ Ryman League Division One South play-off game against Metropolitan Police fell victim to a waterlogged pitch at 7:10pm tonight.

The match will now take place at Hayes Lane on Thursday, 1^st May (7:45pm).

Staines Town: James Courtnage, Marcel Nugent (Jake Newton 38), Dave Sargent, Danny Gordon, Matt Flitter, Gareth Risbridger, Andre Scarlett, Adrian Toppin, Richard Butler, Mark Nwokeji (Elliot Onochie 81), Howard Newton.
Subs: Lewis Cook, Marien Ifura, Dean Thomas.

Goals: Dave Sargent 55 (pen), Andre Scarlett 75

Booked: Adrian Toppin 41

Ramsgate: Paul Wilkerson, Ashley Burton (Simon Pettit 77), Dean Hill, Nick Davis, Ollie Schulz, Ben Laslett, Sam Jones, Warren Schulz (Dan Dolton 72), Lee Minshull, Stuart Vahid, Andy Hadden (Stuart King 75).
Subs: Dan Tanner, Shaun Allison.

Goal: Simon Pettit 84

Booked: Ollie Schulz 22, Nick Davis 54, Andy Hadden 60

Attendance: 502
Referee: Mr Carl Berry (Cheam, Surrey)
Assistants: Mr Daniel Wyatt (Orpington, Kent) & Mr Maurice Cook (Braintree, Essex)
Fourth Official: Mr Gary Jerden (Grays, Essex)