Cray remain unbeaten after five games in the Ryman South but had to settle for a point following an enthralling encounter with Ramsgate at Price’s Avenue.
The Wands had the better of the first half and led at the break with Karl Dent’s goal but Ramsgate stormed back in the second half to take the lead before Lea Dawson grabbed a point for Cray with quarter of an hour to go. Ramsgate also hit the crossbar twice in the second half including a penalty whilst Cray threatened to win the game near the end.
There were a few changes to the side beaten by Faversham on Saturday. Max Huxter started in goal in place of the injured Nick Blue whilst Timi Osidobu came in for Grant Basey. Sean Roberts started in place of Lee Prescott, Ade Osifuwu returned in place of Taylor McDonagh and Solomon Taiwo came in for Danny Haynes.
Ramsgate also lost in the cup on Saturday but began the day above Cray in seventh place. The home side started the game slightly the better in early stages with Alfie Paxman shooting over in the first couple of minutes. For Cray, Roberts shot over the bar with the Wands perhaps looking the more creative of the two sides.
Ramsgate were unlucky not to score when former Wands player, Peter Wedgeworth let fly from distance which only just cleared the crossbar.
Taiwo saw a shot blocked by keeper Luke Watkins before the game settled into a scrappy phase before coming to life on the half hour.
A tremendous pass out from the left found Brandon Scott who made one of his trademark runs into the area and saw his shot thud against the foot of the post, with Dent on hand to tuck home a neat rebound for his first league goal of the season.
Ramsgate nearly levelled straight away from a corner which found the head of Luke Wheatley who should have done better than turn the header wide of goal.
Cray threatened from a corner which fell to Jay Leader who couldn’t get a shot away, the ball was cleared out to Taiwo who fired over.
The game was going end to end before the break and Ramsgate had another good opportunity when from a corner, Tom Loynes found Joe Taylor who fired over.
The last chance of the half came to Cray when a tremendous run down the right by Osifuwa ended with a fine cross nodded wide by Jonte Smith.
Half Time: 0-1
Cray began the second half on the front foot and came close to scoring twice early on. Firstly, Roberts found Smith whose effort was blocked by Watkins.
Then a free kick in a central position was floated over the wall by Taiwo forcing the keeper to scramble down to save.
There was a danger though that 1-0 was never going to be enough and Ramsgate got back into the game in the 51st minute after Cray became guilty perhaps of overplaying and the home side’s pressing forced a couple of mistakes at the back which led to Paxman being presented with a golden chance which he took with some economy to rock the Wands back on their heels.
Ramsgate came mighty close to taking the lead a few minutes later when Jake McKenzie hit a tremendous shot which cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and away much to the Wands relief.
Cray then upped the gears and Scott was played in down the left and his shot was blocked and the follow up was turned over the bar.
Then again Scott inside the area had a chance to shoot but was crowded out with ball falling to Smith but he couldn’t control the ball and the opportunity went away.
There was little Huxter could do in the 71st minute when Ramsgate scored a tremendous goal when Luke Girt hit a screamer from twenty five yards which crashed into the top corner of the net.
The Wands though are a durable side and got back into it three minutes later. A free kick out on the left of the penalty area was floated into the box, and was slightly deflected into the path of Lea Dawson who steered a header expertly wide of Watkins to make it 2-2, also getting off the mark for the campaign.
There was even more drama to come in the 78th minute when Ramsgate were awarded a penalty, rather harshly awarded against Leader for handball from Paxman’s close range shot. How Leader was expected to get out of the way from a shot hit at him from four yards is anyone’s guess. Cray perhaps deserved a bit of luck when Taylor’s kick came back off the crossbar and the chance had gone.
Ramsgate piled on the pressure for a few minutes and twice in the matter of minutes saw shots cleared off the line by Osidobu and Lorraine respectively. Then Smith for Cray was denied by the bravery of Watkins who came out to block his run and shot.
The game was being played at a breakneck speed and Cray perhaps came closest to winning in the final few minutes.
First Danny Haynes was played in down the right side of the penalty are but as he tried to take the ball round the keeper fired into the side net.
Then another great run by Scott saw a shot which Watkins got down well to save and then Seedy Njie’s shot was blocked by the keeper’s knee.
The game then ended with a draw about the right result with Cray perhaps happy to come home with a point in a game they should really have lost.
The point keeps Cray in tenth place with nine points from five played. Cray now move out of Kent for their next game and travel to Surrey to face third placed Dorking Wanderers for the very first time.
Ramsgate: Luke Watkins, Jake Mackenzie, Peter Wedgeworth, George Crimmon (Capt.), Luke Wheatley, Kane Smith, Oliver Gray, Luke Girt, Tom Loynes, Joe Taylor, Alfie Paxman.
Subs: Aaron Millbank, Macauley Murray, Jake Munday, James Tonkin, Niall Salisbury
Cray: Sam Huxter, Ade Osifuwa, Timi Osidobu, Jay Leader, Paul Lorraine, Lea Dawson (Capt.), Sean Roberts (Seedy Njie, 83), Solomon Taiwo (Lee Prescott, 70), Jonte Smith, Karl Dent (Danny Haynes, 62), Brandon Scott:
Subs: Taylor McDonagh, Jai McKinlay
Booked: Leader
Referee: Zack Ellis
Assistants: Adam Donaldson, Nicholas Brown
Attendance: 124