Ramsgate boss Matt Longhurst says he would have asked for a refund after watching their defeat at VCD.

Rams dropped to third place in Isthmian South East following Saturday’s 2-1 loss - a game that won’t live long in the memory.

The conditions largely dictated as Rams’ hopes of a fourth successive victory went up in smoke, Ollie Bate with a late consolation after two goals in six second-half minutes from Jason Williams and Lea Dawson put the Vickers on top.

“It wasn’t a great game,” said Longhurst. “To be honest, if I’d paid to watch it, I’d have asked for my money back.

“I wouldn’t say we were poor, I just thought the game itself was poor and I think the conditions, with the wind, kind of dictated.

“Did they deserve to win? Possibly. They had three attempts on goal, we’ve had two, and two of their three were set-pieces which they’ve scored from, and that’s disappointing for us.

“The second goal is never a free-kick having watched it back, it’s definitely not a foul, but we’ve lost the game.

“It’s disappointing because we’ve done so well to get ourselves into a good position but the positive is that teams around us have lost - Ashford and Haywards Heath - so it’s not just us.”

Ramsgate face two big away games in four days against promotion rivals, with Saturday’s trip to Burgess Hill followed by a rearranged fixture at Haywards Heath on Tuesday.

“These next two games are really important,” said Longhurst, who hopes to have midfielder Mitch Chapman back in contention to start.

“The good thing about the league this year is everyone from 10th upwards can still get promoted and everyone from 13th to the bottom can all go down.

“It’s made the league really competitive but, from our point of view, we’ve got two very tough games coming up and we need to pick up as many points as we can.

“We’re at the business end of the season now. The teams hitting form now have a real chance.

“Hastings and Cray Valley were the most established teams in our division, the most settled sides, both added good players in the summer, and at the moment, they’re the two we’re behind after having to put a whole new squad together this year.

“I can’t see Hastings slipping up, although with injuries and suspensions you never know, but we’ve got ourselves into a good position and we need to grab it and drive forwards.”