Ringmer gutted at late Loxwood woe
Ringmer were left heartbroken as they lost a chaotic and stop-start SCFL Division 1 game 3-2 at Loxwood deep in added time.
Just moments before Michael Wood’s 102nd-minute winner for Loxwood, it looked as if Ringmer would be leaving with a miraculous point.
The Blues had led 1-0 in the first half, but after Lamin Sey’s sending-off, two Loxwood goals and a sin bin, a comeback looked unlikely.
While they brought things back to 2-2 in added time, their joy was to be short-lived.
In the first half, Sey had opened the scoring for Ringmer, getting his head on the end of a Jamie Blackford free-kick and diverting it past goalkeeper Alex Barker.
The midfielder picked up a yellow for an accidental handball as Loxwood tried to break minutes later, and was then shown his second as he slipped into a foul with less than five minutes of the half remaining.
This left Ringmer with an uphill battle against a Loxwood side with just two defeats from their previous eight matches.
The Blues were resilient in the second half, but goals from Jamie Maunder and Leon Isaac within 10 minutes of each other saw Loxwood take the lead.
If being a man and a goal down wasn’t hard enough, Ringmer’s afternoon got worse in the 83rd minute as substitute Oscar Morris was bundled to the ground, sustaining a head injury and being brought off 10 minutes after coming on.
Rhys Taylor was sent to the sin bin for his response to the incident, leaving Ringmer temporarily down to nine men.
Ringmer then stepped things up for their best spell of the game, however, and Fraser Argyle, Lucas Sewell and the returning Taylor all had sights of goal.
Finally, in the 98th minute, centre-back Ryan Doyle got his head on the end of a speculative ball into the box and dragged things back to 2-2.
This was not to be the last of the drama, however, as Wood came up with the goods for Loxwood in the 102nd minute, converting after a shot came off the post.
Ringmer remain in 12th place as a result, but Loxwood increased the pressure, rising to 13th.
An important trip to Arundel FC awaits for the Blues this Saturday, with a 3pm kick-off at Mill Road.
Ringmer AFC: Akras, Simpson, Sewell, Doyle, Northeast (C), Webster, Turner (Morris, 72’) (Argyle, 83’), Sey, Coleman (Ashwood, 90+5’), Blackford (Coleman-Standen, 85’), Taylor.