Rams move to within a point of the leaders

Second place Ramsgate, four points behind leaders Beckenham Town with four games in hand at start of play, closed to within a point of the top by defeating Herne Bay- but they had to work rather hard for victory. It looked like it would be a comfortable night for the visitors when first Joe Taylor and then Lee Martin struck in the first twenty minutes- Taylor’s twenty third of the season- to give them a comfortable lead, but that lead became les comfortable when Harry Bridle got a goal back for Bay on sixty three minutes, only five minutes after emerging from the bench. It could have got worse for the Rams, as in the closing stages Bay were awarded a penalty, but it struck the bar and the chance came and went. 

Ramsgate are now a point away from the summit with three games in hand.

Broadbridge Heath welcomed Sevenoaks Town to their corner of Sussex. The Bears had lost five of their previous six without really being outplayed in any of them, but had actually been slightly better on the road than on their own patch; whilst Oaks, in eleventh, had also been rather positive on the road, and had only one defeat from their previous seven. They now have only one defeat in eight, but they had to settle for a point- and indeed they only earned that deep in added time.

The Bears, who took all the points from last season’s meetings between the sides, fell behind on twenty minutes- Warren Mfula the Oaks scorer- but then took control, Matthew Hay doing the damage with goals four minutes before half time and eleven minutes after it. That looked to be that, and then with six added minutes already played Mfula stepped up to earn his side a point. Heath are thirteenth, Oaks in tenth. 

Ashford United hosted Littlehampton Town. United started the day only two points outside the bottom four, and have been desperately inconsistent for the entire campaign so far- indeed they were looking to avoid a sixth successive defeat. They got back to winning ways, but they had to come from two goals down to do it.

The Golds went ahead on eleven minutes, Marcel Powell the scorer, and within a minute the same player- making his first start- had doubled their advantage. It was a flying start for the visitors, but it left the Nuts and Bolts with seventy nine minutes to find a way back, and find a way back they did. A penalty from James Dunne saw them get back into the game at the midway point of the first half, and the equaliser arrived with twenty five minutes left, Louis Collins with it. Eight minutes later the hosts went ahead for the first time, Barry Fuller scoring his first goal in his second match, and they held on to open up a five point gap on the bottom four. 

Premier Division Hastings United welcomed South East side Deal Town in the Velocity Cup, and two second half goals saw them ease to victory. Tommie Fagg opened the scoring immediately after the break, and a red card for Deal’s Zak Hammond on sixty four minutes made United’s task a little easier. The home faithful waited quite a while for comfort to arrive in the form of a second goal, Davide Rodari scoring it five minutes into added time. United host Cray Valley PM in the next round.