Ringmer on a roll – and proving tough to beat
Ringmer AFC extended their unbeaten run to five matches as a stunning second-half display saw them run out 4-2 winners over Mile Oak.
With both teams coming into the game in strong form – Oak with nine points from their previous five games, and Ringmer with eight – an exciting contest was in store.
So it proved, and Ringmer began well, with Tyriece Whiteoak surging forward from right-back to flash a dangerous ball across the box and then shoot into the side-netting minutes later.
From there, Oak took control. Goalkeeper Ben Taylor was forced into action with a tricky shot from the right of the box, collecting at the second chance.
Striker Marley Ambler then profited from a direct pass, but misjudged the bounce and sent his shot over the bar.
Oak eventually took the lead in the 30th minute as Ambler danced through a couple of challenges and had an effort saved, with Taylor Harding converting a close-range header.
Fortunately for Ringmer, they had a rare chance in the 45th minute to put themselves level.
Jamie Cullen whipped in a cross from the left, which former Ringmer goalkeeper Naythan Bryson - making his Oak debut - dived at full stretch to punch.
Lamin Sey squirted the ball out to Jamie Blackford, and a thunderous shot ended up in the top left corner to make it 1-1.
Ringmer then returned for the second half much more themselves, and began dictating play.
Cullen did well to keep forcing crosses in, while corners set up chances for defenders Ryan Doyle and Charlie Northeast.
It was from a recycled corner that the Blues then took the lead in the 64th minute, as Northeast stayed up and sent a ball across the face of goal, which Cullen could not miss.
The game’s standout moment then arrived in the 77th minute, as a corner was half-cleared as far as substitute Sean Murahwa, and, 25 yards from goal, the young midfielder unleashed a stunning strike into the top left corner.
Ringmer then capped their afternoon with a fourth goal that was very similar to their second, as Jamie Blackford found a pass across the box to assist Ed Easton’s point-blank finish.
Oak got one back with a brilliant Ambler finish into the top left corner, but it was always going to be a consolation.
Ringmer AFC: Taylor, Whiteoak, Ashwood (Maybury, 46'), Doyle, Northeast (C), Webster, Coleman, Sey (Murahwa, 62'), Argyle, Blackford, Cullen (Easton, 70')