Ramsgate manager Lee Martin calls for protection for Billy Munday as goalscoring exploits from set-pieces make him a target

Ramsgate manager Lee Martin has called on officials to be mindful of defenders manhandling Billy Munday in the box.

Munday has become a target after showing his prowess at set-pieces with four goals in his last three games.

The midfielder was on target again at the weekend, meeting Alfie Paxman’s corner with a thumping header for Rams’ equaliser in a 1-1 Isthmian Premier draw against St Albans.

Martin felt Munday could also have had two penalties as the visitors tried to stop him by whatever means necessary.

“They were literally just pulling him down,” said Martin.

“That’s something to be aware of moving forward.

“He’s being targeted now because his first contacts are that good but you can’t keep getting pulled down.

“We did say to the lino the other day, ‘you need to look after him because if he’s scored four goals, what would you do?’

“I said to him, ‘you’d end up marking him and marking him tightly, wouldn’t you?’

“And he was like, ‘yeah, yeah’ and I said, ‘well, there you go’.

“As much as he’s a threat, he’s also going to become endangered in terms of people marking him. We need to look at that but also referees need to protect him a bit more.”

Martin was keen to make more of set-pieces when he succeeded Ben Smith at Southwood.

It was an area Rams excelled in during last season’s Isthmian South East title win but hadn’t made the most of following promotion.

They’ve put that right, as shown by Munday’s purple patch.

“We highlighted it as soon as we came in,” said Martin.

“As much as we created and played some fantastic football last year, I think the majority of our goals were from set-plays, so that is something we needed to look at.

“It’s not just Munds, we also want to get other boys on first contacts as well and I