Rams go four clear- and hit five

Leaders Ramsgate started the day with a two point lead at the top, and by the end it was four, after the Rams fired home five goals in front of a crowd of one thousand, one hundred and forty one- all of whom got in for free! A hat trick in the last ten minutes from Rowan Liburd did most of the damage, but visitors East Grinstead Town were firmly in the match until they saw defender Junior Savane dismissed with twenty five minutes left. At that point it was one-nil, Gil Carvalho on nine minutes, but the Rams soon added a second against ten men, Tijan Jadama scoring before Liburd began to sing.

Second place Chatham Town will have been confident as they hosted third bottom Haywards Heath Town- and they maintained their unbeaten home record, but that was all they had to boast about as Heath held them to a goalless draw. They slip four points behind the leaders, whilst Heath are four points from safety.

Beckenham Town welcomed Littlehampton Town to Eden Park. The Becks had only one win from seven coming into this match, and had conceded four against the Golds the last time they met, but they got revenge for that defeat in a game which saw them win with two goals in the dying embers of the match. Jamarie Brissett put the hosts ahead on eighteen minutes, but Dion Jarvis levelled midway through the half and the sides were even at the break. Ibrahim Jalloh quickly restored home advantage five minutes after the restart, but again Jarvis hit back. Right at the end Louie Theophanous did what he does best- and he did it twice, two goals in quick succession to turn one point into three. Scott Kirkwood saw red for the visitors.

Perhaps our match of the day came from the Enclosed Ground, where Whitehawk met Sevenoaks Town. The Hawks, in fourth, had won four of their last five- only an aberration at Chichester City blotting their copybook- whilst Oaks had only one defeat from ten and started the weekend only one point and one place behind their hosts. The match was only four minutes old when Alfie Rogers put the hosts ahead, and twenty two minutes later the same player doubled their advantage. Nathan Cooper made it three soon after the restart, and a late goal for David Kawa wasn’t much of a consolation for the visitors.

Cray Valley PM and Ashford United, the closest challengers to the top five, met at the Artic Stadium. The Nuts and Bolts were protecting a seven match unbeaten run, the Millers unbeaten in four, and we expected a close encounter- but the Nuts and Bolts had only a close encounter with a massacre, as the Millers hit them for five. An Ade Adeyemo double on ten and thirty seven minutes made it advantage Cray, and a third- from Adam Coombes- arrived just before the break, although far enough from the break for Coombes to add a fourth! Six minutes after the restart Adeyemo completed his hat trick, and a consolation from Gary Lockyer for the visitors would have cheered up the travelling fans very much. it could have been six, but for a failure from the spot in the last minute.

Cray leap to fifth, and our image is courtesy of the club.

Two sides who were separated only by goal difference met at Reachfields, as Hythe Town hosted Chichester City. Four points away from fifth place at kick off, they’d both lost their way a little of late, but the Cannons got back to winning ways when Jason Fregene scored the only goal of the game. Rob Hutchings saw red in the closing stages for the visitors.

Sitting in between Chichester and Hythe at kick off were Sheppey United. The Ites welcomed a relegation-threatened VCD Athletic side, and hoped to build upon their four-one walloping of East Grinstead Town last weekend. Vickers had been in freefall, and last won a match on Saturday 10th December- and that run continued as Warren Mfula scored the only goal of the game just before the half hour- his twenty fourth of the campaign.

One point and one place separated Sittingbourne and Three Bridges at kick off- in favour of the Sussex side, but even though the two sides played out a draw the gap was two places at full time. It was almost larger, as Bridges went ahead with twenty three minutes left- Noel Leighton with the goal- and held that lead until almost full time, when a penalty for Mitchell May earned the Brickies a point. Tad Bromage saw red for the visitors, who came within a moment of picking up their first away win of the season.

Lancing welcomed Faversham Town- who gave a debut to Adebayo Akinfenwa- to Sussex. The Lancers were without a win in four matches, whilst the travelling Lilywhites were eleven points from safety- and both of those statistics changed, in the hosts favour, after a two-one win. The Lilywhites took the lead midway through the first half through Ronald Sithole, and they held it until sixteen minutes from time, Tyrese Menzi Mthuni with the equaliser. A minutes from time the Lancers completed the turnaround, Reece Hallard with a winner that takes them to five points above the drop zone, whilst the gap is now fourteen points in the other direction for the Lilywhites.

Burgess Hill Town played host to bottom side Corinthian. The Hillians were only a point above the bottom four at kick off, but they had this game won by half time. Dan Perry opened the scoring on twelve minutes and got a second from the spot just before the break, with the visitors day getting much worse as keeper Daniel Colmer saw red. Dave Martin got a third before half time, and although the ten men replied on the hour through Oscar Housego the last word went to Martyn Box, making it four-one to the hosts and giving them a four point gap over the drop zone. Corinthian are fifteen points from safety.

Follow the Pitching In Isthmian League on Instagram. Head here or search for theisthmianleague on your app. We're also on Facebook and Twitter.