sladevrams200304

Slade Green blown away by Mo

Slade Green fall to their sixth consecutive defeat

Slade Green 0-1 Ramsgate
Go Travel Kent League Premier Division
Saturday 20 March 2004
by Martin Wiseman

It took a 22 yard thump into a howling gale as well as Green's net from a Ramsgate forward boasting the shortest first name and the largest last name in the Kent League, to send Slade Green to their sixth straight defeat last Saturday. 

Mo Takalobighasi's 74th minute winner for Ramsgate was all the more implausible in that it came after a first half when Green, facing into a gale (that on occasions returned keeper Paul Vines goalkicks back into his own penalty area), had survived against the elements to keep the score at 0-0. 

The view that Green simply had to  re-appear and press on after the break to cruise to victory proved very misguided.

 In fact battling into the teeth of the gale Ramsgate unlike Green in the first half probably created more problems for Green after the break than they had done when things seemingly, were in their favour.

 The realisation that the high wind was going to play a major role came after just 3 minutes when a bouncing ball was gusted over  home keeper Vines who was then left stranded as Aaron Robinson hooked the ball back from the by-line, across goal, to see it drift back goalwards and inches wide of the far post. 

Vines more than compensated for this early misjudgement when he flung himself full stretch on 28 minutes to turn away a wind assisted drive from 25 yards, while Scott Lewis came to Green's rescue after 39 minutes, heading off the line following a Schulz header that looked destined to score. 

Green survived several other scares during this siege to see them safely to the break.  The 10 minutes after the turn-around had Phil Miles hitting over from 30 yards while the weekly new Slade Green signing, Billy Bond, gave visiting keeper Twyman, his first taste of action with a curling shot from the right side of the box. 

But worryingly for Green, in the same period, Shaun brown hit the angle of Green's goal, and seconds later, following a corner, Morris's strike needed keeper Vines and Darren Upson to bundle the ball to safety. 

Then on 63 minutes, following 'Rams' seventh corner, Warren Schultz seemed certain to score, but Vines again pulled off an impossible save, and so left Green in contention.  So much, so, when subs Tom Olson and Andrew Brown came onto play a part in a corner which saw Twyman drop the ball, it looked as though Green slightly shamefacedly were going to move into the lead as Darren Upson blasted towards the roof of the net, but up popped a defender's head to send the ball careering for another corner. 

As often happens after such close calls, within 60 seconds the ball got switched to the other end, and a Slade Green clearance got charged down so leaving the way clear for 'Rams' Anglo-Iranian, Takalobighasi, to step in and render Vines flat footed with a low drive that flew a yard or so inside his left hand upright. 

Missing Paul McCarthy (groin injury), Green were unable to keep enough possession of the ball to capitalise on their wind advantage, and Ramsgate were allowed to hold out comfortably to win thanks to Mo's late strike.