Ramsgate manager Ben Smith reacts to 2-2 Isthmian South East derby draw at Margate on Boxing Day in front of sell-out Hartsdown Park crowd

Boss Ben Smith is remaining level-headed after Ramsgate were denied a big derby victory at Margate at the death on Boxing Day.

The title-chasing Isthmian South East Rams looked on course for victory in front of a sell-out crowd of 2,500 at Hartsdown Park after a goal in either half from defenders Joe Ellul and Jay Leader.

But it finished 2-2 as Ben Greenhalgh’s troops struck again in the 93rd minute, with the goal eventually being awarded to midfielder Max Walsh.

“You can over-analyse everything - but it’s a point away from home,” said Smith, whose second-placed side are three points behind leaders Sittingbourne but with a game in hand.

“In derbies, form and everything goes out the window, doesn’t it?

“We were close but not close enough. It is what it is.

“We have got to work on the finer margins of the game and we need to manage the ending of the game better than what we did.”

Report: Margate 2-2 Ramsgate

Having gone 2-1 in front, netting their second shortly after Gate had equalised, the Rams looked fairly comfortable - until the dying embers of the game.

Smith said: “That pressure comes from ourselves.

“We had opportunities to play into corners but we ended up going backwards. We then give throw-ins away and things start happening from there, really.

“How he (Walsh) has so much space in the middle, 20 yards from goal at that point in the game, that’s just crazy! It’s just baffling, to be honest.

“We certainly didn’t sense danger well enough at times.”

Smith also thought some big decisions went against the Rams, feeling they should have been awarded a penalty by referee Kane Dempster for a foul by goalkeeper Tom Wray on winger Alfie Paxman.

He said: “It’s fine margins.

“Certainly, there were some fine margins that