Most of the talk on the train was about nefarious activity, financial prudence and one man's noteworthy crusade to identify the finest watering holes for anyone venturing towards the so-called London Stadium in the next 9 months or so.
There was also talk of Guernsey's lost generation, 2 of whom were scoring in the Rawlinson Cup at the Track later in the day.
We arrived in Ramsgate to find the place seemingly closed, so to the ground we went. The Ramsgate clubhouse is becoming familiar but worth re-iterating that it's not too shabby at all, light and airy in fact. Main teabar is just outside, well before the turnstiles, where despite the staff being involved in some kind of epic soap opera (veggies turn away now) an early contender for 'bacon cheeseburger of the season' could be found.
Then into the ground itself to be delighted to discover that a number of the official attendance of 210 were playing hide and seek (OK it may have had something to do with the seize cents soixante quatre). Then the day started to go downhill.
Yes dear reader, the match kicked off.
We were truly dreadful in the first half. Kyle Smith was running his socks off up front but between him and Tardie there was what can be best described as a blancmange, such was the lack of shape and application. We were lucky to go in just 1 down at half time. Not just through the host's domination of play but their generosity in perhaps one of the feeblest penalties you will ever see (unless of course you are prone to the occasional nightmarish flashback of Pat Nevin and countless others).
The second half started in much the same vein. Ramsgate had a 'goal' disallowed for offside and goalmouth activity at the other end typically looked like this:But things did improve. Changes were made, things improved and we found an attacking threat with the blancmange being replaced by players running and supporting each other. Chances were forged and we even scored. The chap at the top of the page, Robbie Legg, made a big impression when he was introduced and he was influential in the build up to Dom Heaume's goal. Still not a lot to him but he plays without fear at this level. The small tank previously known as Craig Young also stood out.
At the other end Chris Tardif was playing his usual blinder and he was being pretty well shielded by the defence in front of him.
Ultimately we were undone by one of those good old football cliches - a cruel deflection.
Ramsgate are one of the favourites to go up but, bearing in mind we were shockingly, nay appallingly, bad for long periods, they're possibly thinking they have a lot of work to do. Their management team, the Sartorial Brothers, may well be banking on constantly being in the ear of the 'lino' as one of their key tactics for the season.
The second half revival meant there was an air of disappointment at the final whistle but looking at the performance over 90 minutes a draw would have been akin to nicking a point.
Still, not quite the doom and gloom some were anticipating pre-match. If only that lost generation could be persuaded to ignore the charms of the goddess Breda and return to the fold....
Keep it Green
Allez les Verts!!
