WITHAM TOWN 1 MARGATE 2

Ryman League premier division

In a season where late goals have proved hurtful to Witham Town it was another last-gasp strike that was a hammer blow in this Ryman League premier division encounter.

Witham had the better of the action in the second half and will be ruing not making more of the chances they had, especially after Margate had been reduced to ten men in the 73rd minute.

But it was the Kent side who grabbed all three points with a goal in stoppage time by Ryan Moss to leave Witham in the top flight drop zone for the first time this season.

The fact that the game went ahead at all was incredible as snow and rain before kick-off left the pitch looking like a quagmire.

And as rain continued to fall throughout much of the game, it got steadily worse over the 90 minutes with largely muddy sections by the final whistle.

Witham started well in the atrocious conditions and visiting keeper Nikki Bull had to pull off a good save after a rasping volley by Tom Wraight in the third minute.

Good build-up play from Witham then opened a chance for Luke Callander but his effort culred just wide of Bull’s far post and the Margate keeper then had to get down well to deny Wraight again.

Margate weathered the early surge better than the pitch did though and began to push on.

They forced several corners, with Tambeson Eyong heading over from one of them and then Ben Gerring slammed a shot just wide of the target.

With open play scrappy as both sets of players struggled just to stay upright, it was from a corner that Margate took the lead when Tom Phipp turned the ball into the net in the 26th minute.

They stayed on top and Luke Moore curled a shot just past the post as Witham found it tough to make headway in the visitors’ half of the pitch.

They did have the ball in the net from a set-piece in the 37th minute, when Marvin Ekipiteta prodded home from Jamie Guy’s knock down, but the goal was ruled out for off-side.

Bull then pulled off another good save from a shot by Guy from the edge of the box to keep his side ahead at the break but it was a slender lead that they held on to.

The weather at the start of the second half was worse than at the end of the first, with heavy rain getting heavier and making the surface increasingly treacherous.

It meant play was fractured with neither side able to maintain any decent spells of possession, but the visitors did clip the Witham crossbar with one early effort after the hosts had failed to clear their lines.

Witham substitute Evans Kouassi did find some space wide on the left in the 65th minute and after driving infield, he fired a shot that clipped the outside of the visitors’ post.

However, it was a brief respite for Margate as two minutes later, Lewis Godbold tried his luck from distance and the ball sailed on the blustery wind into the goal to make it level.

The pendulum swung even further in Witham’s favour with 17 minutes to play as a tackle by Phipp on home skipper Tom Wraight saw the Margate midfielder shown a red card.

Against ten men and with Margate legs looking tired, Witham surged forward, but clear-cut chances proved frustratingly elusive.

They went close with a strong shot from Guy, but Bull got his body behind the shot to take it cleanly.

The fact that they had held off the hosts’ onslaught seemed to bring life into Margate’s tired legs and they ended the game strongly.

They pushed Witham back and from a free-kick in the 90th minute, Ryan Moss swept the ball into the net for a last gasp winner.

The late goal mirrored several that Witham have conceded deep into games this season and was a hammer blow to their hopes as they dropped into the bottom four in the table for the first time this season.