Ramsgate left it late but came away with a deserved 1-0 win at AFC Croydon in their opening Pitching In Isthmian League South East game at the Mayfield Stadium.
Five players made their competitive Rams debuts from the start, with Roarie Deacon starting at right back alongside Andrew Tirivanhu and the imperious Jay Leader at the back. Lewis Gard and Tom Clifford also started in midfield.
The game began at a frantic pace on a bobbly pitch, and it was the home side who created the first opportunity, with Brandon Pierrick’s curling shot forcing Tom Hadler in the Rams goal in to a superb one handed save to tip the ball wide. Soon after it was Jay Leader’s turn to come to the rescue with a superb goal saving challenge to deny the hosts an opener.
Ramsgate began to grow in to the game from there, and fashioned several chances only to find Amadou Tangara in the home goal in inspired form. First, he came out to deny TJ Jadama in a one on one situation before making great near post saves to deny Benny Bioletti and Joe Taylor. The pick of the saves followed when he superbly tipped a low Alfie Paxman shot on to the post as Rams started to dominate.
Shortly after, a carving run inside from Paxman drew a clear foul inside the box and a penalty was inevitably given. Joe Taylor stepped up but, as had been the story of the game so far, Tangara dived to his left to save superbly and keep the score goalless. Tirivanhu went close with a header from a corner shortly after, but Croydon grew back in to the game before half time – with a superb curling effort from Alpha Diallo crashing off the top of the crossbar. Somehow, the game was still at 0-0 as the teams headed in to the break.
The second half was a far more cagey affair, with both sides feeling each other out for large periods as tactical tweaks from both sides nullified the space we’d seen for much of the first half. Set pieces were proving to be fruitful for both sides, with McCarthy twice going close for Croydon and Paxman heading just wide for the Rams.
TT Walters came on for his debut alongside the returning Josh Ajayi for Paxman and Clifford shortly after, with Ajayi in particular really impressing with his sharpness and pace – giving the Croydon right back no end of problems. Aaron Barnes came on to replace Benny Bioletti for his debut at the same time the hosts were then forced to go down to ten men after 80 minutes having made all of their substitutions, after an injury to Kevant Serbonij.
The Rams looked to push home their numerical superiority and pushed forward relentlessly searching for a winner. A knock to Tirivanhu saw fans’ favourite Joe Ellul sub on for his second debut just as the clock ticked in to stoppage time.
The winning goal, which arrived in the 96th minute, came following a searching run by Deacon. Joe Taylor’s superb ball found Jadama one on one with Tangara again, and it was second time lucky for the Rams’ number 20 as he slotted home to send the sizeable away support in to raptures.
Ramsgate saw the game out comfortably afterwards to record a hard fought but vital three points to start their season in the best possible way. Ben Smith’s team are next in action at home to Southall in the FA Cup at the WW Martin Community Stadium this coming Saturday 17th August.
Rams: Hadler, Deacon, Leader, Tirivanhu (Ellul), Carlse, Clifford (Walters) Gard, Jadama, Paxman (Ajayi), Bioletti (Barnes), Taylor. Sub: Bola
