Equalising in the final few seconds meant that Ramsgate claimed a point at Cray Wanderers despite being far below their best. After the match, Rams’ manager Lee Martin saw it as a point won.

“We were second best today.” he admitted. “They were the better side comfortably but, our fighting spirit, what we’re trying to create in terms of environment, even when we’re second best we’ve still got that fighting spirit of trying to get something out of the game.

“It’s a tough place to come. They’re a very, very, good team. A very organised, well coached team. We’re going to be disappointed when we dissect the game in terms of what we’re trying to create, what we have created. Credit has to go to the boys for the fight back.”

As a result of the Rams’ impressive January, Martin was awarded the manager of the month award for which he gave full credit to the team. It looked as though the curse of the prize might have struck again until Alfie Paxman scored with virtually the last kick of the game. However, Martin thought there were different forces in play. He said “I lost my Dad on Sunday and he was definitely watching over us.”

Claiming a point extended Ramsgate’s unbeaten run and Martin felt that it’s very important. “Yes, that’s the main thing, momentum.” he confirmed.

“We need to work on certain things on the pitch but we’re not going out and being rolled over. That’s signs of a good squad. New players have come in. We lost TJ (Tijan Jadama), our captain, our leader but hopefully we can get players back, and back up to fitness in the next couple of weeks and look to kick on.” 

Recent incoming players have improved the Ramsgate squad and Martin is delighted with the business. He said: “We’ve signed well. We’ve always said that we’re two away. Naturally, you’re always looking to try and improve the squad because it’s not our squad essentially, but little tweaks here and there.”

“I think we’ve played a team there that is pretty much a perfect picture so we’ve got to try and emulate that and hopefully we’ll highlight certain areas where we can improve.”

Despite their good run, Martin wasn’t prepared to be drawn on whether he was targeting the play-offs. He said: “I think it’s every game as it comes, I really do. I said that to the boys. It’s a difficult place to come here but there’s a lot of fight in there, a lot of belief in there so we’ll see what comes.” 

Picture supplied by Keith Gillard.