This was the 35s’ third game of the season and one in which they were looking to finally get off the mark after frustration in the first game, and a tough opponent in the second.

Conditions were good today, the previous evening’s storm had abated and it was sunny, calm and the St Luke’s pitch looked in reasonable condition. The rest of the of the facilities at the ground though are quietly and consistently deteriorating to a depressing state of neglect. Working showers are a distant memory there and the dingy changing rooms didn’t even have a working light bulb.

Back to the game, and with something of a centre back crisis in full swing (no Wynnie, no Powell, no Foadie, no Russ, no Dave Close), Matt Huckstep stepped in to play alongside Stu Munday while Simon Bates occupied right back and Lee McEvoy started on the left in front of Darren Knowles, who started his 3rd consecutive match of the season. Paul Tomkies and Leigh Gilpin formed a formidable screen in front of the centre backs and Craig Gilpin was given a free role by manager Kidd today. With Sharpie arriving late, the front three were Blades, Mike and Billy Bowman. That felt like more than enough quality to win the game.

And Bay got off to a strong start with a long range well struck strike to the far corner from Bill that the keeper palmed away. Billy took the resulting corner but wasted the opportunity as it struck the near side netting harmlessly. Then minutes later Craig Gilpin relishing his freedom chipped the ball over his defender and struck the resulting shot at the keeper who did well to come out and close the angle quickly. Shortly after Bill had another opportunity after good work from Craig G down the right but failed to unduly trouble the keeper. He steadied himself for the shot with plenty of time but hit it directly at the goalie near post.

Chances for the home team were limited in the first half as Munday and Huckstep formed a strong partnership quickly and dealt comfortably with the threat as and when it came. Ramsgate did manage to spend a little time pushing the visitors back into their own half but both Gilpins were a threat on the counter and found themselves a number of times with space and time in front of them and broke well.

On 36 mins Craig Gilpin notched the goal his performance deserved after some good work from McEvoy down the left. He crossed and Gilpin rose to help it on and over the keeper into the side of the net.

At half time the manger and skipper Leigh Gilpin urged more of the same as Paul Tomkies came back on after tweaking his back in the first half. There was a little concern over some of the passing out from the back and a little more movement was encouraged out of the attacking players. Otherwise the view was the performance was extremely positive.

The 35s were straight back on it in the second half as just minutes in Craig Gilpin had a twisty mazy run and opened up space to shot, but the resulting effort was soft and the keeper gathered easily. Leigh Gilpin also had a chance on his right but the finish wasn’t up to the high quality build up, very much the story of the game today.

As the half wore on Ramsgate committed more men forward and Tomkies was urged to screen the centre backs and help with the overloads especially down our left. Things were a little ragged at times at the back as the visiting defenders were pulled out of shape. Ramsgate created an opening on 60 mins that Darren tipped on to the bar and gathered.

The extra ambition of Ramsgate to pour forward left gaps for the strikers to exploit and on 70 mins Miki had the ball in the net from a tight angle on the right after a little dink through from Craig Gilpin but he was judged to be offside. It was hard to see from my angle but Miki was sure the goal should have stood.

Ramsgate though did get a goal with about 15 remaining as some of the back four began to tire after a relentless second half. Without the same number of subs as the home team, Bay were less able to freshen things up and I think the tiredness cost us in the end.

In the final stages both teams were convinced they could win it but it ended in stalemate which probably felt more disappointing to the visitors after their good build up play and hard work at the back.

Overall, the result gets us a point on the board, which as Scott Kennett correctly pointed out is better than zero points. There were also a lot of positives to take from the game. The free role for Craig Gilpin was something I wanted to put in place today and it worked really well. Both Herne Bay and Ramsgate gave him man of the match. There were also some fantastic performances at the back with Munday and Huckstep forming a very solid partnership, as did Tomkies and Leigh Gilpin in the centre. Batesy was very good at full back, Darren made a couple of very good saves to keep us in it. I enjoyed Miki’s hold up play upfront and Billy was unlucky not to get on the score sheet after creating some excellent chances. What was clear was that the quality was there, but we lacked numbers. It would be good in the coming weeks to see a few more quality options from the bench to allow some of those tireless performers today a little breather from time to time during the games.

I’d finish by saying that with the exception of HBV, I feel confident we can win our return legs later in the season, particularly if we can turn out a squad that has both quality and quantity.

We switch focus now to the Kent Cup on 8 Oct. Both teams are in action, one home and one away. Let me know on WhatsApp if you are available.

D Knowles

S Bates S Munday M Huckstep L McEvoy

P Tomkies L Gilpin

C Gilpin

D Bladon M Radulovic B Bowman

Starting from the bench: C Sharp, M Kidd

Result: Ramsgate 1 – 1 HBFC O35s
Man-of-the-match: Player's vote: C Gilpin
Man-of-the-match: Opposition vote: C Gilpin
Referee: P Taylor [90]