Both sides walked away with a deserved point after an end-to-end contest between Ramsgate and Guernsey at Southwood Stadium.

The Green Lions were boosted by the returns of Dave Rihoy and Craig Young who both played the full 90 minutes, as well as Harry Tobin who was an unused substitute. Simon Geall and Angus Mackay dropped out of the matchday squad from the previous trip to East Grinstead Town.

It was Ramsgate who came out of the blocks quickest, putting the Green Lions under a spell of pressure throughout the first ten minutes before the visitors grew into the game. Tom Chapman and Alfie Paxman looked lively for the home side on either flank, the former providing several good crosses from the right wing and the latter testing Guernsey goalkeeper Will Dennis after cutting in from the left.

Guernsey then won a free kick just outside the area for handball. Ross Allen tested goalkeeper Luke Watkins who almost spilled the ball into the path of an attacker, but a Ramsgate man saved his blushes.

The best chance of the first half fell to the Ramsgate captain in the 34th minute, when left back Jack Penny swung in a great delivery which met the head of Danny Lawrence who could not keep his effort down.

The Green Lions looked progressively better as the first half went on, but couldn’t find an opening before the interval. They continued their good spell at the start of the second half, with Kieran Mahon and Paris Pereira replacing Charlton Gauvain and Tom De La Mare shortly after the break.

In the 54th minute Dave Rihoy did well to get down the left wing and cross for Ross Allen, but he fired wide on his left foot.

Just a few minutes later Allen came even closer, receiving the ball from substitute Mahon and firing past Watkins, only to be denied by a defender on the goal line.

Allen was replaced by Robbie Legg shortly after, and the young striker almost had an immediate impact, flashing a dangerous cross in front of Pereira who couldn’t quite turn it in. 

The final fifteen minutes saw the home side put pressure on Guernsey, with Will Dennis making a magnificent save to keep out a close range header. 

Dave Rihoy did come close to snatching all three points in the 89th minute with a powerful volley from the edge of the area, but his effort was just off target. 

A minute later the Green Lions had a scare of their own as Paxman was played through one-on-one with Dennis, but the young goalkeeper did well to keep out his effort.

After three additional minutes the referee brought proceedings to a close, with both sides deserving of a point. Guernsey managed their second consecutive away clean sheet, and the draw gave them their seventh point from three away fixtures.

Ramsgate: Luke Watkins, Jake Mackenzie, Jack Penny, George Crimmen, Jacob Mensah, Billy Munday, Tom Chapman, Jake Munday, Rory Smith, Danny Lawrence (C), Alfie Paxman. Not used: Matthew Causer, Tijan Jamada, William Hadler, Adam Turton, Lewis Mitchell.

Booked: Crimmen, Paxman.