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Ramsgate 1-1 Chelmsford City, Tuesday 27th March 2007, Southwood Stadium, Kick-Off 7:45pm, Ryman League Premier Division.
Chelmsford's troublesome away form continued in Kent as a late Lee Boylan converted free-kick snatched a point away from play-off contenders Ramsgate. City had trailed to a 25th-minute Shaun Welford spot-kick but they levelled with two minutes left in a heated climax that saw Bryan Glover and Boylan himself sent-off along with the Rams' Lee Minshull. The Clarets initially welcomed back Steve Ward to the heart of defence in place of Glover while Stuart Ainsley made way in midfield for newcomer Jason Rose. His baptism of fire took place on a bumpy, solid home surface and tackles were flying-in equally as hard from City's physical opponents, an early example coming from Ollie Schulz who earned an early booking for a scything challenge on Boylan. Ramgate sprung into life when a foul in the penalty area resulted in the dead-ball which Welford tucked away and this prompted Chelmsford to attack at the other end shortly afterwards, Ricky Holmes getting clear before lobbing over the bar and being flagged for offside. Boylan then summoned a pair of attempts moments before the break for the visitors, firstly finding himself with only goalkeeper Paul Wilkerson to beat and seeing his shot blocked then he fired a free-kick well over the crossbar, meaning the home side took their advantage into the interval. Moments before half-time, new-boy Rose left the field injured to be replaced by Glover and as the second period began another change was made, with Jason Hallett coming off the bench in place of facial injury victim Jay Conroy. This made no immediate positive impact and around the hour mark Ramsgate's Stuart Vahid collected the ball on the edge of the area before hacking safely wide. On 69 minutes Boylan's latest opportunity presented itself though he only achieved a header over from just under the crossbar when in a decent position to find the net. City were almost made to pay for such wastefulness in front of goal though fortunately the hosts missed a decent chance with the whole target to aim at. Seven minutes remained when the action really began to heat-up, a home defender slicing the ball dangerously over his own bar and Hallett then muscled-out a back-tracker to half-volley a snap-shot inches too high. Immediately afterwards substitute Dwain Clarke's left-wing delivery was diverted onto the post just prior to the first two dismissals. Upon seeing a team-mate brought down a yard outside the Ramsgate box, Glover became briefly embroiled with opponent Minshull and both saw red from the referee to reduce each side to ten men. However, this was quickly forgotten by the travelling supporters when Boylan stepped-up and struck his free-kick into the top corner to finally earn a share of the points on 88 minutes. His celebration, though, warranted his second booking which culminated in a sending-off, meaning it turned-out to be a bittersweet evening for the relieved yet frustrated Clarets. City: 1 Ashley Harrison Ramsgate: Paul Wilkerson, Ashley Burton, Dean Hill, Will Graham, Ollie Schulz, Michael Phillips, Michael Yianni, Warren Schulz, Shaun Welford, Lee Minshull, Stuart Vahid. Subs: Akwasi Edusei, Simon Pettit, Andy Madden, James Gregory, Jurgen Wild. Bookings: City: Boylan (64, foul and 88, excessive celebration). Ramsgate: O. Schulz (18, foul), Welford (68, foul). Sent Off: City: Glover (86, violent conduct), Boylan (88, second bookable offence). Ramsgate: Minshull (86, violent conduct). Referee: Ian Gosling. Assistant Referees: P. Harris and R. Joss. Attendance: 409. City Man of the Match: Ben Chenery. |
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By
Chris Evans
(Picture by Matt Bradshaw)
