Ringmer AFC extended their unbeaten run to seven matches with confident win

While Ringmer suffered their usual early wobble as they fell 1-0 behind early on, the manner of their response was impressive at the Caburn Community Ground, with some sumptuous attacking football at times.

A well-taken brace from Fraser Argyle came between an excellent Rhys Taylor finish and a debut goal for 17-year-old Rocco Cullen, with plenty of players impressing.

Big week for Blues

The match came at the end of a momentous week for Ringmer, who announced at the start of the week that they would be applying for promotion to the Southern Combination Football League, with full focus on getting the results that could enable this.

Chairman Mark Hutchings later announced his difficult decision to step down from the role with immediate effect – something unrelated to the promotion application and only taken after considering the demands of the role over the last two-and-a-half years.

All at the club are determined to make the best of the 2024/25 season, and knowing that they will have to finish in the MSFL Premier Division’s top five and above any other side also applying for promotion, Ringmer’s task is stern but clear.

Tommy Haddon and Jon Hart made three changes for this fixture, with Charlie Northeast, Rhys Taylor and Ed Easton returning in place of George Maybury, Jacob Ashwood and the injured Curtis Wilton.

Changes, however, did not stop the continuation of a strange recent trend.

Conceding first-half, and particularly early, goals has been an issue for the Blues and continued as Holland Sports took the lead after just four minutes.

From a goal kick, the visitors broke down the left with Joe Hill, who beat George Coleman in a foot-race to the by-line and squared for John Hill to convert from six yards.

Fortunately, the Blues did not leave it as long to respond on this occasion.

Fraser Argyle had a goal disallowed for offside within minutes of the opener before Taylor levelled the scores in the 13th minute.

The forward – whose role was more as a wing-back in this contest – turned his defender inside out on the left before firing a delicious finish across goal and into the bottom right corner, taking his goal tally for the season to nine.

With full control of the left flank, Taylor went about his business with verve and swagger after the goal and would play a role in the Blues’ next goal too.

In the 22nd minute, Taylor clipped a free kick onto the crossbar from 25 yards, and with the ball dropping rather fortuitously, Argyle was perfectly positioned to finish from point-blank range.

Two minutes later, it was almost three as a cross from the right was slashed just wide of the post by a Holland Sports defender, and Ringmer’s confidence only grew.

With some excellent line-breaking passes and movement, the Blues dragged their visitors one way and then another for the rest of the half, with Easton having a great chance to make it 3-1 but being foiled from close range.

There was plenty of needle in the contest too, with a feisty moment as Northeast was shoved to the floor off the ball and both he and Holland Sports’ Joe Kavanagh got a yellow card for their troubles.

Flurry of activity

While the game remained in the balance at 2-1, Ringmer were in no mood for it to remain that way as they returned.

Just two minutes into the second half, Argyle received possession midway through the Holland Sports half and exhibited real striking prowess, holding off his defender and progressing before slamming an excellent finish past Tom Sells.

Though this should have made things comfortable for Ringmer, the visitors went on to have their best spell of the game as the game reached the hour mark.

The Oxted-based side probed the Blues’ defence from all angles and were having some joy when they won 50-50s in midfield and could create overloads on the counter.

In the 64th minute, the visitors thought they had got the deficit back to one when Joe Hill converted from a deflected shot, but the striker was ruled offside.

When Ringmer survived that spell of pressure, they could turn to their bench for inspiration and a final flourish.

17-year-old Cullen provided just that in the 88th minute, when he raced away on the counter and fired a shot into the bottom left corner, with Sells brushing it with his fingers but unable to prevent it from becoming 4-1.

It was a moment that lifted all of Ringmer’s players and staff on Cullen’s first-team debut and served as the perfect end to a successful afternoon.

The win – a fifth in the last six games – now puts Ringmer up to 5th in the MSFL Premier Division table, and just three points behind co-leaders Oxted & District, Crowhurst and Westfield.

Their next assignment is a blockbuster visit to Crowhurst this Saturday, with a 2pm kick-off at the Hailsham Community College 3G pitch in both teams’ final outing of 2024.

Ringmer AFC: B. Taylor, Coleman (Cullen, 82’), Verrall, Oliver (Colwell, 73’), Northeast (C), Webster, Easton (Maybury, 65’), Blackford, Argyle, Earle (Butterworth, 82’), R. Taylor (Ashwood, 82’)

Unused: N/A