Promotion favourites AFC Wimbledon put on a strong display at Kingsmeadow, while referee David Woolford was 'public enemy No 1' with Ramsgate after a string of controversial decisions and non-decisions, leaving the Rams to return to Thanet without any points. Sky Mangel's Match report and photos below.

Haydon the Womble does the X-Hex dance as the Rams emerge from the tunnel 

Match Report by Sky Mangel 

The Rams were missing Shaun Welford (family wedding abroad) and Lee Minshull (suspended), while Olly Schulz passed a fitness test prior to the game. The franchise club started the game brightly with some great football and took a deserved lead after 7 minutes when former Stevenage man Sam Hatton let rip with a fantastic shot outside the area, leaving Wilkerson in no mans land. Nick Davis blasted a header over the crossbar from a Simon Pettit corner and moments later a Pettit long throw found Steffan Ball on goal, but his shot did not trouble Andy Little in-between the sticks.

Steff tries to get a shot off. 

Ramsgate chances were limited thanks to a well organised home defence led by former Margate man Jake Leberl, whilst the heading power of Olly Schulz cut out many of their attacking moves.

Ball picked up a caution for a scything challenge on Leberl and he did try his best as lone striker, although a "Warren Waugh" style shot did not cause any problems. Poor defending from the usually cool Dean Hill gifted Hatton his 2nd goal, to the delight of 2829 screaming Wombles. The home side continued to punish a poor 1st half display from Ramsgate, but Rob Quinn's powerful header failed to beat Wilkerson. Pettit too had a chance to head home from a cross, but although he directed it away from Little it sailed over the bar.

Petts heads over

The second half was a slightly better performance from the Thanet side, while the Wiltshire match official appeared to have a hidden agenda. Olly and Ball went close to scoring in the opening minutes.

Olly heads just wide.

Ramsgate had a clear penalty turned down on 51, when Jason Goodliffe wanted a cuddle with Olly in the box, but referee Woolford saw it and bottled the decision, to the disgust of the travelling fans. Hatton also escaped with a gentle tickle from the man in black after a late tackle on Ben Laslett, yet a few minutes later Olly did an identical tackle on Richard Jolly and got a different reaction, thanks to half-pint midfielder Quinn storming to the referee to bully him into sending Olly off, and his wish was granted.

Ten men Ramsgate struggled to get near the don's box, as when Ball got the football, franchise sub Antony Howard would foul him every time. Even though the whistler would give a free kick, you would think 6 fouls in a short space of time would earn him a caution for continual infringement of the laws, but Howard knew he was getting away with it as he was not wearing green! Jim Ward gambled for the last 20 minutes, when Karl Barron replaced Andy Hadden, but in truth it was always going to be a hard task, as the Franchises continued to push for a third goal. Hatton should have had a hat-trick, but shot wide of the post when he received the ball unmarked on the edge of the Ramsgate area. Tony Finn had a superb game for the home side, despite being restricted by the close attention of Ashley Burton, and the pacey winger even nutmegged Burton to whip in a cross for a Daniel Webb header, which was excellently tipped over by Wilkerson.

The Rams had another clear cut penalty turned down when former England non-league international Goodliffe's blatant push on Will Graham was not adjudged a foul by Woolford. From there the counter attack saw sub Karl 'Becks' Beckford teasing up the wing before whipping in a cross over to Webb, who blasted wide of the post. Second half subs Stuart Vahid and Warren Schulz had their names added to the referee's notebook, while Howard continued to foul Ball without a word from the referee.  Ramsgate's 15th and final foul saw Burton carded for his challenge on Luke Garrard, while Franchise defender Goodliffe gave away the 23rd freekick to the Rams for a foul on Vahid yet, yes you guessed it, the referee did nowt! At the end Jolly had a shot on goal blocked by Nick Davis, while Finn's reply was saved by a remarkable one-handed effort from Wilkerson.

Nick Davis forces Jolly to blast wide.

Admittedly, it was a bad day in the office for Ramsgate and the referee, but AFC Wimbledon looked a good side and strong favourites to win the league. In the bye-line of his programme notes manager Terry Brown warns that his team won't always play pretty football but are devoted to winning, and from this performance it is clear that they will break up their opponents' game by whatever means they can get away with.

Leberl makes sure Wozza can't get a head to the ball, and makes no attempt to head it himself

Referee David Woolford, 3/10  Assisted by C Miles and P French

Attendance: 2829

Match Stats           Wombles                        Rams

Shots On Target         4                           2         

Shots Off Target                8                                  6

Corners                            3                                  4

Offside                              0                                  1

Fouls conceded                 23                                 15

Yellow cards                      0                                  4

Red cards                          0                                  1

Entertainment Value: 3/5

SM's Ratings: Paul Wilkerson (7/10) Ashley Burton (6/10), Dean Hill (5/10), Nick Davis (7/10) Olly Schulz (6/10), Will Graham (4/10), Simon Pettit (5/10), Andy Hadden (4/10), Ben Laslett (5/10), Steffan Ball (6/10), Michael Phillipps (4/10). Subs: Stuart Vahid (5/10), Warren Schulz (6/10), Karl Barron (4/10)

What the Whistler Saw:

Can you spot the infringements by Olly Schulz that led to a freekick being given against him in these 2 incidents?

In clear view of the ref, Olly jumps surrounded and heads the ball across the box just before being caught in the head by Leberl's right arm.

Again the ref has a good view of Webb 'outjumping' Olly, the effort of the assist from Webb's left arm pushing Schulz to the ground.