Canvey Island suffered a 2-0 defeat to Ramsgate conceding two goals early in the second half.

In front of a 1000 plus crowd, Gulls held their own for long periods but Rams were just that bit sharper in front of goal.

Canvey gave a debut to former Leyton Orient and Wycombe striker Scott Kashket as well as Mikey Salako who was prolific up front for Herne Bay last season.

Ramsgate had the first effort on goal on 15 minutes when Ryan Kingsford curled a free kick over the crossbar.

On 25 minutes, Joe Halsey found himself in space just inside the penalty area but screwed his effort wide for Gulls.

In the second half, Rams made a fast start to the half scoring twice in the first 7 minutes.

On 49 minutes, Joe Taylor found room in the penalty area from Alfie Paxman's pass and the prolific striker fired a low shot beyond Luis Lines.

Three minutes later, Mitchell May broke through the Canvey defence and slotted past Lines to double Ramsgate's lead.

Canvey thought they had found a way back into the game when Finley Dorrell drilled the ball past Aidan Prall but the the referee judged that Salako had helped the ball over the line from an offside position so disallowed the effort.

Kai Garrett may well have added to the scoreline for Ramsgate firing in a shot that struck the post and bounced away to safety.

Canvey look to bounce back from defeat when they travel to Cheshunt on Tuesday night.

Match Report by David Powell