Ramsgate boss Ben Smith reacts to their 3-0 home Isthmian South East victory against Herne Bay at Southwood; A seventh straight win for the Rams

Ben Smith praised the application of his players after unbeaten Isthmian South East leaders Ramsgate eased past Herne Bay on Saturday.

The Rams moved five points clear with a 3-0 home victory at Southwood - their seventh league win in a row - while second-placed Beckenham were beaten 3-1 by Ashford.

A quickfire double from Benedict Bioletti and Roarie Deacon had them two goals to the good inside 15 minutes.

It went from bad to worse for Bay when goalkeeper Harry Brooks was sent off, leaving an outfield player to go between the sticks, and seven-goal midfielder TJ Jadama added to their tally, as it ended 3-0.

The Rams completed the double for the season over Bay, having edged to a 2-1 victory at Winch’s Field just 11 days previously.

“We had to sort of weather their start,” said Ramsgate manager Smith. “We always felt they would have a fast start because they ended well against us the last time that we played them not long ago. It was important we weathered that and just sort of got our bearings.

“Once we got our patterns of play, for our first goal, we just cut them open. It’s all well and good, playing with a high press but it’s then about finding the right solution at the right time.

Report: Ramsgate 3-0 Herne Bay

“I thought Jay Leader was outstanding for the first 25 minutes. There were a couple of misplaced passes but it was a bit of a chess match and, as soon as we could open them up, we did. It comes from Jay and Lee Martin.

“There’s some great movement there. There were things we worked on, things we talked about doing, and the application of all of that was really good from the boys.

“I’m not saying we were camped in and playing counter-attacking football, but our biggest threat was when we had a goal kick.

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