Ramsgate boss Ben Smith says their FA Cup victory at Chatham Town was never a free hit

Manager Ben Smith always felt there was a game to be won after Ramsgate shocked Chatham in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Rams produced the result of the First Qualifying Round by winning 5-1 away to the Isthmian Premier leaders on Saturday.

TJ Jadama set them on their way and top scorer Joe Taylor added a second before Chats replied through Che Krabbendam early in the second half.

Taylor restored the two-goal cushion and man-of-the-match Bode Anidugbe struck twice in the last five minutes as Ramsgate set up a trip to Cray Wanderers in the next round on Sunday, September 17.

Few gave Isthmian South East Rams a chance of beating a Chats side who had won their first five league games following promotion.

But Smith wasn’t going there to make up the numbers.

He said: “I was never one of those who felt it was a free hit.

“I kept hearing that term bandied about by people outside our camp and I made quite a point of telling the players it wasn’t a free hit.

“If we’d felt it was a free hit, that tells me we don’t believe we’re good enough to go and win a game of football.

“I’ve seen a few comments saying Chatham had players missing but so did we. It’s about what happens on the day and we were clinical.

“We put in a good performance but we won’t get carried away.

“We’re still learning about each other and still learning to grow as a team.”

Smith, keen to see the character in his side, got his wish as Chatham pulled a goal back in the second half before Ramsgate moved clear in the last 20 minutes.

“As mad as it sounds, I said to the chairman at half-time I’d love to concede and then win the game,” he said.

“It was an opportunity to find out a lot about the team in terms of our character, our resolve and our resilience, and it was