Ramsgate’s victory over Ashford was a great advert for Isthmian South East football.

Rams were 3-2 winners in a top-of-the-table clash at Southwood on Saturday.

Kane Rowland scored twice as the league leaders came from a goal down to triumph, with Jack Paxman also on target.

The match attracted Ramsgate’s biggest attendance of the season - 845 - and they had value for money.

“It was a very good game,” said Rams boss Steve Lovell. “I enjoyed the result, obviously, but I really enjoyed the game.

“Both teams are quite attacking but in different ways.

“Ashford are quite direct and they used their strengths well, which is fair enough, and we like to get the ball down and play.

“I think it was that mixture of styles that made it such a good game.

“They opened up in the second half and started playing some football as well and we went a little more direct.

“It could have gone either way. I thought we played well and I thought they played well.

“We had a good crowd in, it was a nice environment and a nice atmosphere and the game was played in the right spirit.”

It was Rowland’s best performance since rejoining Ramsgate from Sittingbourne, much to the delight of his manager, who hopes the striker will settle down and get a run of games.

“He’s missed a lot of the season,” said Lovell.

“He didn’t start with us and then he came in and got concussion, so he missed two weeks, and then he had to go away.

“He’s only just getting back to playing regularly and he’s that No.9 we were looking for.

“He gives me the option to play different formations and he knows where the goal is. He showed that on Saturday.

“He scored a great header where he’s got across the centre-half and the second one he’s followed up a shot from TJ Jadama.

“You can’t teach people to score goals. You can teach them the right areas to get in but scoring has got to be a natural thing. It’s something you’ve got from birth, really.”

Ramsgate are two points clear at the top but will drop to second if Chatham win their game in hand at Beckenham tomorrow night.

Next up for Lovell’s side is a trip to Brighton to play third-placed Whitehawk on Saturday (3pm).

Rams are the top scorers in the division, with 30, while the Hawks boast the meanest defence, having conceded only eight goals in 14 games.

“Anything could happen,” said Lovell.

“They’re obviously very good defensively - that’s an amazing record - but they’ve still scored a good amount of goals (26).

“We’ve got to try and break them down at their place, which won’t be easy.

“We know it’s going to be a different game to last Saturday and we’ve got to be ready for it.

“All we can do is give it our best shot and hope it’s good enough to get something out of it.

“If we do that and don’t get a result, there’s nothing you can do about it.

“We’ve got a tough month coming up. It started with Ashford and we’ve got Whitehawk, Beckenham and Chatham coming up.

“It doesn’t matter about being top at this stage, we just want to be in the pack for the last six weeks of the season.

“That’s what you want, to be in a position to attack those top spots when it really counts.

“When you’re top, you’re there to be shot at. Everyone wants to beat you.”