A winning start for City today as they made the short trip to Three Hills Park in Folkestone to take on Ramsgate Athletic.

A goal to the good at the break and then leading 2-0 and 3-1 thereafter they looked to be in control but a concerted front foot effort from Ramsgate saw them pushing hard towards the end and maybe City will just think that it was probably a bit closer than it needed to be as the final whistle blew.

Plenty of attacking play from both sides was on display in the opening period, with City forcing three early corners, two of which produced off-target headers, while Ramsgate responded with Jay Crithcer’s snap shot smartly snaffled down low by City keeper Adam Strickson and Max Cooper’s quickly taken free-kick thrashed well over the City bar.

Tristan Belsey, having already seen one shot blocked, then tried a distance, rather optimistic effort that spiralled at speed past the angle before a fourth corner for City again failed to test the home goal. A lot of the forward motion was coming from the visitors, but they seemed to be struggling with the stiff breeze often just over-hitting or pinging the ball too far.

Ramsgate then had a busy period with Toby McCabe denied by a great defensive block from City’s Luke Scott – with Rico Dyer placing a free header over the City bar from the resulting corner, before Scott again thwarted Brandon Potts this time with another well timed block. An overhit corner from Ramsgate was then swung back right across the face of the City goal, but there was nobody in a red shirt quick enough to attack it and with half an hour gone, it was a bit of a surprise that the game was still goalless.

Chances were then exchanged at either end when firstly Aaron James’ brilliant ball from the back was seized upon by Oscar Weight who cut inside only to see his firm effort hurriedly scooped away down low by home keeper Billy Howard, while for Ramsgate, Isaac Jarvis bustled his way though before poking the ball narrowly wide of the City goal under pressure.

On thirty-nine minutes, City took the lead with a superb finish. Strickson arrowed a big clearance forward towards the deep right corner of the Ramsgate half and it well chased down by Weight, after riding a couple of challenges he found Scott and his whipped in cross was brilliantly converted by Jake Lemar with a perfect first-time effort that he seemed to half-volley on the turn, firing the ball back over his left shoulder and into the net for 1-0 – a great strike.

With an injury stoppage and a water break in the stifling conditions, the game moved into over six minutes of first-half stoppage time which saw Ramsgate missing an opportunity to equalise when a handily placed, attacking free-kick was wastefully clobbered well wide, before George Clark’s latest corner for City saw a James downward header bounce up nicely for home keeper Howard to grab. 

An entertaining first-half then came to an end with City just the solitary goal in front.

Just two minutes after the restart City doubled their lead with a goal that had both a bit of fortune followed by a large helping of skill. A ball played forward towards the Ramsgate box saw Lemar chase it down and get off a shot that cannoned off the body of the fast approaching keeper but the ball popped up and following in, Daniel Ikem cleverly thumped an immediate first-time volley back over the keeper’s head and planting the ball firmly into the net for 2-0.

As City started to ring the changes, Ramsgate went close when Fin Jordan had a clear site of goal but could only clip the outside of the post with his effort, which was then followed by Clark’s free-kick for City evading the defensive wall but gathered at the second attempt by the falling Howard.

On sixty-one minutes though the hosts pulled a goal back and it was another clever and intelligent strike with Jarvis spotting Strickson playing high and well off his line before crashing the ball home via the underside of the bar from way back at the edge of the centre-circle, leaving the keeper completely stranded for 2-1.

It took City a minute to gain back their two goal lead however when Belsey’s free-kick was swung into the far post and looked to have been overhit before Louis Brooks-Read managed to reach it and calmly head it back across goal where he found Mark Newman who had a fairly straightforward tap home from close range for 3-1.

City dominated the next period of play and looked to be moving smoothly to the three points as Brooklyn Blandford skewed a shot wide of the far post, Chris Kamara shot wide from the corner of the box and Jamie White lifted a Belsey free-kick over the bar. Another attacking free-kick and a corner both passed City by, before on eighty-two minutes, Ramsgate grabbed a goal back, McCabe bursting forward down the left before rasping a clean strike past the diving Strickson for 3-2.

City could have sewn it up just three minutes later, when another Belsey free-kick was well turned aside by the hurrying Howard as the ball threatened to just creep in inside the post, but from there, the game got a bit scrappy with City trying to hold and Ramsgate throwing everything they had forward in search of a leveller. A barrage of long throws from the right were well defended by City before in the ninety-fifth minute, Ramsgate had the perfect opportunity for one last big effort as a thirty yard free-kick in the inside-left position was carefully set up, but then – fortunately for City, badly hoicked well over the bar by Jarvis and into oblivion prompting the referee to blow for time.

A cautiously optimistic start to the season for City then, they played some good football – both long ball and short, with some nice touches and a decidedly more attacking approach than was present far large parts of last season and when they get the ball forward there are very often players actually in the box to do something with it – which is again a big and much needed improvement from last term.

Too early to make any wild assumptions or predictions though and let’s just see how they do on Wednesday at Chilham.