Merstham Miss 'Em, Ramsgate Get 'Em

In January 2015 I had to accept the reality that the growing demands of my job (I am back in full-time teaching as Head of Science in a large comprehensive school) meant that I could no longer find the hours to travel and blog.  I found myself getting drowsy at the wheel and staying up later and later in midweek to keep up with it all.  It was unsustainable and I had to take a break.  Now I’m trying to make a comeback.  This isn’t a random hop, but it is an impulse trip to a fixture that has some significance for both teams, always a criterion for this end of the season.  If you saw someone marking a set of chemistry exam papers on either First Capital Connect or Southern trains, that was me.  Hope you enjoy the blog – thanks for the messages so far.

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Friday 3 April 2015 at Moatside
Result	Merstham 0 Ramsgate 2
Competition	Isthmian League D1 South (Step 4)
Hopping	My first match of 2015, ground 556, chosen for travel convenience this time.
Pre-match preparation
Merstham have secured a place in the end-of-season playoffs but cannot catch runaway leaders Burgess Hill, so all that is left in five more league games is the jockeying for home advantage or a preferred opponent in the playoff semi-final.  They are 9pts ahead of Whyteleafe and 4pts behind Folkestone.  On the proverbial paper, this is a home banker against a team in the relegation zone, and three goals today would see Merstham with a league ton. However, this is football of the “soccer” variety and Ramsgate will realise that this is their game in hand on their rivals, and a win will take them out of the red zone.  I think this result is more unpredictable than it looks.  (I promise you I wrote that at 9.00am on the day of the game!)
This match in one sentence
Ramsgate have three vital points from a smash-and-grab road win.
So what?
Not much has really changed for Merstham – in all likelihood they will have an away playoff semi-final at either Folkestone or Faversham.  Ramsgate, however, have a two-point cushion over their relegation rivals.
The drama unfolds
I felt instantly among friends with a mug of coffee served with the ATL logo.  Other teaching unions are available, but ATL is the WTG IMO. A quick look at the teams suggested that Merstham, for the second successive game, were resting or without several of their first choice players.  The spectators waited in respectful silence before KO and it took a while for this game to wake anyone up.  Ramsgate had the first real chance when a looping ball forward fell into no-man’s land and Matt Adams poked the ball past the keeper but on to the post. My scene-setter from 18-20 minutes has a Ramsgate break following a Merstham set-piece.  Merstham are in gold-and-black. On the half-hour, home keeper Brannon Daly got enough behind an awkward shot to scoop it out.  I took a second clip and considered deleting it to be brutally honest, but here it is because it shows the ground from the other side. Daly was in action again in stoppage time with a full-length save, and I was wondering whether Ramsgate would eventually rue these missed chances.  0-0 at half-time Merstham imposed themselves on the second half and suddenly looked much the stronger team.  Ramsgate sub Scott Punton made a last-ditch clearance, a rebound from another clearance went just wide, and visiting keeper Adam Highsted made a good save after a mazy run and shot by Tauren Roberts.  However, Ramsgate got the vital first goal.  Chris Elliott whipped in a free-kick left-footed from the right flank.  It came off defender Junior Kaffo for an own-goal – Daly could only parry the deflection in off the bar.  Irony alert all round since Kaffo had been the hero last time out with the goal that secured the playoff spot.  0-1 after 65 min Ramsgate sub Tom Chapman led several breaks as Merstham piled forward.  Punton was in the right place for a magnificent short-range block with 10 mins to go, and I took a clip of some of Merstham’s increasingly frantic efforts. With just over a minute to go, a freekick sent Ramsgate’s Joe Taylor into the corner.  Instead of holding it there, he seemed to catch the home defence out with a ball into the six-yard box and Adams finished neatly with a first touch.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is a road win to savour.  0-2 after 88 mins and at full-time
Ground Pix
No-one is keen to get this ball back!
Match Pix
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
PL is more about Bentleys than Rollers
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Green beats blue and takes a clean sheet to jump over Grey into second place, and still no interest whatsoever from Opta. The full story so far since this quasi-statistical nonsense began: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet P W D L GA (-1 each) CS (+5 each) Pts Pts per Game Purple 5.0 3.0 1.0 1.0 9.0 2.0 11.0 2.20 Green 22.0 11.0 2.0 9.0 27.0 7.0 43.0 1.95 Grey 23.5 10.0 7.0 6.5 31.5 7.0 40.5 1.72 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.50 Red 4.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 5.0 1.0 6.0 1.50 Blue 10.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 16.0 3.0 11.0 1.10 Orange 7.5 2.0 2.0 3.5 10.5 2.0 7.5 1.00 Yellow 10.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 19.0 2.0 1.0 0.10 Radioactive Bile 6.0 2.0 0.0 4.0 12.0 0.0 -6.0 -1.00 Pink 7.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 16.0 0.0 -10.0 -1.43 Black 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 -2.0 -2.00
Soapbox Section
Nothing from me this week. The nation has too many people on soapboxes at the moment.  Just don’t get me started on school places, teacher workload, league tables, Ofsted, 11-plus selection and the scandalous regional variation in Mars Bar prices.
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Maybe something else tomorrow, but almost certainly Cambridge United v Accrington next Saturday as an unofficial extra as part of my return to Selwyn College, 40 years after pitching up as a wide-eyed 17-year old to start a degree in Natural Sciences.  More about my soft spot for Cambridge United in due course.