Ramsgate manager Ben Smith tells how Joe Taylor called new strike partner Mitchell May before rejoining the club

Ramsgate boss Ben Smith has told how a phone call from Joe Taylor to Mitchell May laid the foundations for the pair’s new strike partnership.

May was signed to replace Taylor after the club’s record goalscorer left Southwood at the end of last season, and the former Sittingbourne man had hit the ground running.

After recovering from a pre-season injury, he scored in each of his first four league starts and was earning plenty of admirers before the opportunity to re-sign Taylor arose.

But title-winning skipper Taylor, who scored 101 goals in the previous two seasons at Ramsgate, was keen to assure May that he wasn’t trying to take his place.

They’ve since started all three games together, the highlight being a 4-1 win at Welling last week, where both men were on the scoresheet in a sparkling performance.

“The way both of them have taken it in their stride is good,” said Smith, whose side drew 1-1 with Cray Wanderers on Saturday.

“Mitch could have looked at it and thought about himself and what does this mean for me? But that’s not been the case at all.

“It helps that before JT was confirmed as signing, he made a personal call to Mitch, which he didn’t need to do, to say I’m not coming in to try and take your place, I’m coming in to try and help the team and I think we can work well together.

“A phone call like that shows that bit of class from JT and I think the pair of them have got real potential to kick on together.

“They can complement each other well, and we saw that at Welling.

“On Saturday, they didn’t get enough service and it probably wasn’t the right game for that formation but we’re learning all the time with the shape we’re playing in certain games.

“You have to give the opposition credit.

“We’re saying we