Ashford Town FC

Ashford Town 2 (Murphy 30, Sherwood pen 70)
Ramsgate 3 (Quinn pen 7, Taylor 52, Ashmore og 84)

ATT: 153
Man-of-the-match: Tom Murphy

Scott Chalmers-Stevens
2. Carl Harrold
3. Lee Hockey
4. Toby Ashmore (capt)
5. Laurence Harvey (Smith 66)
6. Matt Newman (Fuller 66)
7. Mitchell Sherwood
8. Ross Morley
9. Mark Lovell
10. Tom Murphy
11. Chris Borchescu
12. Joe Fuller (for Newman 66)14. Nick Smith (for Harvey 66)15. Ronnie Dolan16. Dan Shearing17. Darren Ibrahim

An action-packed Kent Derby at Homelands ended with Ramsgate running out narrow winners as a poor Ashford Town saw their relegation fears worsen.

A bizarre refereeing display by Gary Croft saw three penalties awarded and one player sent off, but in the end it took an own goal from Toby Ashmore to settle the clash as Steve Lovell’s men remain in the bottom two of the Ryman South table.
With Craig Cloke returning to Dover and Danny Lye missing through injury, Lovell recalled Ashmore and Lee Hockey into the backline. Nick Smith also returned to the bench after serving a four match suspension.
On a cold night a healthy contingent of travelling Ramsgate support helped create a keen atmosphere inside Homelands and it was away fans who were celebrating first. The pace of Tom Tsangarides, who was a constant threat all night, was too much for Laurence Harvey to deal with as the young defender showed a bit of naivety in bundling the sprightly winger over in the box. Referee Croft had no hesitation in rightly pointing to the spot – Liam Quinn stepped up to stroke the ball past Scott Chalmer-Stevens into the corner of the net. On 16 minutes the visitors nearly extended their lead as again Tsangarides was too hot to handle as he sprung a weak Town offside trap, but as he tried to round Chalmer-Stevens, the keeper was alert to smother his first effort and then showed great athleticism to parry away the rebound.
The home side had to wait until 24 minutes for their first opening but Tom Murphy couldn’t convert Lee Hockey’s knockdown from Matt Newman’s corner. Murphy though wasn’t to be denied as six minutes later he pounced to put Ashford level. Ramsgate failed to deal with a Hockey long-throw and as the ball skipped off a defender’s head, Murphy showed great predatory skills to drill the past Danny Twyman on the half-volley. It was leveller that the home side scarcely deserved. For the rest of the half Town maintained an element of control as Ross Morley lobbed over from the edge of the area and Mitchell Sherwood shot straight at Twyman as Croft brought an end to the first-half.
After the interval, Ramsgate, for the second time in the game, scored seven minutes into the half. Joe Taylor skipped past three half-hearted challenges in the Town box before rifling an unstoppable drive past Chalmer-Stevens into the top corner. Ramsgate were ahead and six minutes later they should have extended their lead amidst the game’s most controversial moment. Matt Newman gave the ball away on the halfway line and Quinn pounced to slip-in Tsangarides, he again attempted to round Chlamer-Stevens, this time the keeper brought the forward down and a penalty was awarded. Somehow Chalmer-Stevens escaped with a just a caution and to make matters worse for the visitors he pulled off a superb full-length dive to save the spot-kick from Tsangarides. In fairness, Chalmer-Stevens as the last man should have been dismissed.
At the other end Murphy’s effort from an acute angle was tipped round the post by Twyman before another strange piece of refereeing. Ramsgate again failed to deal with a long Hockey throw and defender James Gregory was penalised for hauling down Town substitute Nick Smith in the box. The penalty award was fair but the subsequent caution awarded to Gregory to compliment his first-half yellow card for a taking a free-kick to soon, was harsh as the full-back was given his marching orders by Croft. Sherwood stepped up to stroke the ball confidently past Twyman to level up proceedings again.
Despite having a man advantage, Ashford still struggled to play any kind of attractive football and even though Murphy dragged his shot wide after Ashmore had put him through it looked as though Ramsgate were more likely to bag a winner. Firstly Chalmer-Stevens had to tip over a powerful Ben Laslett before a stroke of luck that they deserved secured the points for Ramsgate. With pretty much his first touch Curtis Winnett delivered the ball goal-bound, but much to Town’s dismay the ball caught a wicked deflection off Ashmore and looped over Chalmer-Stevens to nestle in the top corner – there was no way back for town now as Ramsgate took the points in a pulsating derby match.