Chatham Town came into this game with a chance of going top if they could beat their Kent rivals Ramsgate and results went their way but they did not read the script as Ramsgate won and jumped above Chatham Town.

The game started with Chatham on the front foot when in a space of two minutes from the 5^th Keiron McCann had two chances as firstly his cross was caught by Luke Watkins at the second attempt at the near post & then his cross ended up on top of the net.

Another half chance came in the 12^th minute when McCann passed to Jack Jeffrey on the edge of the area & he returned the ball to McCann whose cross shot was deflected into the side netting.

In the 16^th minute Ramsgate took the lead in their first real attack when Lewis Knight inadvertently passed straight to Ian Pulman who raced into the area & went round Ryan Nicholls & slid the ball home.

Six minutes later Pulman nearly made it two when he received the ball from Joe Kane’s free kick wriggled past three defenders before seeing his curling effort saved by Nicholls.

In the 28^th minute McCann who was Chatham’s best player on the night ran from centrally out wide on the left before seeing his shot again hit the side netting, in the very next minute McCann passed out to Richard Davis whose low cross found George Humber whose first time shot was deflected goal wards forcing Watkins to push it around the post.

In the 37^th minute another half chance went Chatham’s way when McCann luckily found himself free in the area after the ball rebounded to him & he ran into the area before shooting but Watkins saved it, in the very next minute Ramsgate on the counter attack saw Joe Taylor pass the ball into the path of Pulman but his shot on the run went just wide.

The last chance of the half came in the 43^rd minute when a Chatham corner was half cleared back to Joe Bingham whose cross into the area found Kane but he headed over the bar.

The second started very slowly as both teams seemed to give the ball away & then another defensive mix up nearly gave Ramsgate another goal when in the 57^th minute Tom Loynes running forward passed into the area for Pulman but Corey Holder got to it first but Pulman persevered & tackled him & went into the area but again the side netting was hit.

In the 67^th minute Andrew Dalhouse received the ball ran forward before releasing Humber whose shot was finger tipped around the post by Watkins. Ramsgate got their second in the 70^th minute out of nothing as Taylor on the edge of the area received the ball & then shot past Nicholls.

Two minutes later a corner into the Ramsgate area was cleared but only to Bingham whose shot went over the bar & then in the 75^th minute Chatham scored when Siao Blackwood crossed to the back post where McCann was & his header came back of Dalhouse but luckily for him he was able to volley in from 5 yards.

The last 15 minutes were nervous for Ramsgate as Chatham threw everything at them without causing to many headaches whilst Ramsgate would rely on the breakaway but as this did not happen often.

The final whistle went & the Ramsgate players celebrated a great workman like performance & 3 points whilst Chatham will rue the times they had chances to shoot rather than walk the ball in.

 

CHATHAM TOWN:

1. NICHOLLS 2. R.DAVIS  3. L.COLLINS (57)  4. J.LOFT  5. L.KNIGHT  6. C.HOLDER  7. KWARBENA OSEI (81) 8. J.BINGHAM 9. G.HUMBER 10. J.JEFFREY (57)  11. K.McCANN

SUBS USED: 15. S.BLACKWOOD (57)  18. A.DALHOUSE (57)  17. C.OFUSU-HENE (81)

SUBS NOT USED: 12. A. EDWARDS  14. J.SULLIVAN

BOOKINGS: 9. G.HUMBER (44)

 

RAMSGATE :

1. WATKINS 2. J.McKENZIE  3. L.WHEATLEY  4. J.KANE  5. N.HUMPHREY  6. L.GIRT  7. T.LOYNES  8. P.SMITH 9. I.PULMAN   10. J.TAYLOR  11. A.QUAIN (81)

SUBS USED: 15. T.HICKMAN (81)

SUBS NOT USED:   12. W.SHULTZ   14. J.ANDERSON  17 .J.PAXMAN

BOOKINGS: 9.I.PULMAN (63)  7. T.LOYNES (79)

 

REFEREE: Mr R. WHITTAKER

ASSISTANTS:  Mr A.STACCHINI  & Mr R.ALBERT

ATTENDANCE: 203