Hundreds of travelling Ramsgate fans are hoping to enjoy a title party on Good Friday - but manager Ben Smith has stressed nothing is won yet.

Rams visit relegated Hythe in a 1pm kick-off at Reachfields, knowing victory would clinch the Isthmian South East championship with two games to spare, regardless of Sittingbourne’s result against Burgess Hill.

If not, they’ll get another chance at home to Thanet rivals Margate in a 3,200 sell-out on Easter Monday (3pm).

Ramsgate maintained their seven-point lead over the Brickies after coming from behind to beat Three Bridges 5-1 at Southwood on Saturday.

Victory, thanks to goals from Lee Martin, Aaron Barnes, Joe Taylor, Benny Bioletti and Joe Ellul, moved them ever-closer to a first league title since 2006.

But Smith and his players remain fully focused on the task at hand.

“It’s easy to get carried away when you’re this close but we’ve just got to take it one game at a time and prepare for Hythe the same way we’ve prepared for every opponent this season,” said the Rams boss.

“The fans might be getting excited but, in-house, it’s very much business as usual.

“There weren’t any big celebrations after the Three Bridges game.

“I don’t think our group have got a complacent bone in their body.

“There’ll be time to celebrate if and when we’re fortunate enough to get over the line.

“What we will have on Friday is an unbelievable amount of support.

“We’ll have 400 Ramsgate fans there, so my message to the players is to be excited about playing together again.

“They love being together, so let’s enjoy it another time.

“We’ve got three more times to enjoy it this season - three games to get the three points we need to win the league.

“Time will tell but it’s another game, let’s not get carried away.

“We got carried away last year and look what happened, we didn’t win it.

“I don’t want to hear people saying congratulations, we’ve done it already, because we haven’t, and that’s a fact.

“Who knows what’s going to happen?

“We’ve got to go into it expecting Sittingbourne to win their win game, so we have to do our own job.

“If we win the game, no one can do anything, no matter what Sittingbourne do. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

It’s been a difficult season for opponents Hythe, whose relegation was confirmed earlier this month.

They’ve lost their past six games but Smith has great respect for boss Nick Davis, the former Sittingbourne and Rams manager, who took over from Sammy Moore last August.

The Cannons also have Jim Ward, the last man to win a league title for Ramsgate, on board as a football consultant.

“People think this game is a foregone conclusion but Hythe have got good players,” said Smith.

“I’ve got a lot of time and respect for Nick.

“It won’t be the easy game people think it is.

“I really like Nick, it was a bit of a poisoned chalice going in there when recruitment was already done for the season and having to sign players mid-season.

“Yes, he’s been the manager when they’ve got relegated but you try signing players when you’re in the mire.

“People don’t want to come to you then and Hythe’s out of the way, it isn’t easy for players to get to.

“When they were confirmed as relegated I was gutted for him because he doesn’t deserve that.

“He’s a good guy and a good manager. He’ll bounce back from that, I’ve no doubt at all.”

The one downside of Ramsgate’s victory over Three Bridges was the injury-time dismissal of Martin, whose terrific sidefoot volley cancelled out the visitors’ early opener.

He received two bookings - both for timewasting - and will miss the Thanet derby through suspension.

Martin received his first caution after leaving a free-kick to goalkeeper Tom Hadler with Rams 2-1 up early in the second half.

And it was 4-1 by the time he picked up his second yellow after leaving a corner to regular taker Roarie Deacon.

Smith couldn’t believe the referee’s decision.

He said: “It was ludicrous.

“Lee went to take a short corner and the bench screamed at him ‘no’ because we don’t really want to be doing short corners, so he left it for Roarie Deacon and the referee gives him a second yellow, saying he’s timewasting.

“We’re 4-1 up at the time. It’s the 91st minute. That’s someone that’s never played the game before.

“The first one, he’s getting on the ball trying to take a quick free-kick, which is something we do want to do, but there wasn’t one on so he’s left it to Tom Hadler and got booked.”