Sunday 12th October 2008

Ramsgate 9 - 4 Maidstone United Rascals

A depleted Stones squad took on Ramsgate in the Southwood sunshine. The visitors who only had 12 fit players were a goal down within two minutes. They then almost equalised from a corner, before starting to settle down and get back into the game with several chances falling to Amy Nichols and Natalie Larby. The equaliser soon came whe the ball fell to debutant Becky Penfold who struck it nicely into the top right hand corner of the goal.

The Rams retook the lead straight from the restart and a third soon followed. The Stones were being taugh a lesson but kept battling and were rewarded when Amy Nichols latched onto a ball from Laura Grant and slotted it home to bring the score back to 3 - 2. The Rams added two more goals before the break.

The second half was very similar to the first half and the Rams added a sixth as The Stones tired. Thes Stones managed to pull a goal back before The Rams went on a spree adding a further three goals. Maidstone completed the scoring witha goal by Michele Parker direct from a corner. With 5 minutes remaining Lisa Gilbert in the Stones' goal made a great save but unfortunately injured her left hand and had to leave the field. Having already used their substitute Maidstone were reduced to 10 players and April Jane deputised in goal.

Manager John Harvey commented after the game "we are definitely getting better although we need to improve in some areas and these are now becoming clearer for the coaching team. We have had a 100% all around team performance today even though the score does not reflect this. The squad will be strengthened by having all the players back who are signed on and the players that our injured back at the moment. The Ladies are giving everything and that's all we can ask them to do."