THE RAMS secured their place in the semi-finals of the league cup with a 5-2 win over the Maldon Saints Tigers at Promenade Park on Sunday.
Going into their winner-take-all shoot out, the Rams were hoping to make amends for a lacklustre performance in the previous fixture between the two teams when they had scrapped a two-all draw, and they immediately stamped their authority on the game when James O'Reilly took advantage of a goalkeeping fumble to shoot home from close range in the opening exchanges.
O'Reilly showed his class midway through the half to round the keeper and slot home to extend the lead, while Sam Donnelly made it three with a cooly taken breakaway finish before half time.
In the second half the Rams continued to press, and this lead to some gaps appearing at the back as the game got stretched. Maldon pulled back what seemed to be a consolation goal, but instead this just led to a rapid exchange of goals, with Donnelly adding his second, and George Morris scoring his first goal of the season to cap an excellent individual performance as the Rams ran out 5-2 winners.
The playoff success now sees the Rams move on to face a home and away semi final against league leaders Focus Ferrers Dynamos next month.
Going into their winner-take-all shoot out, the Rams were hoping to make amends for a lacklustre performance in the previous fixture between the two teams when they had scrapped a two-all draw, and they immediately stamped their authority on the game when James O'Reilly took advantage of a goalkeeping fumble to shoot home from close range in the opening exchanges.
O'Reilly showed his class midway through the half to round the keeper and slot home to extend the lead, while Sam Donnelly made it three with a cooly taken breakaway finish before half time.
In the second half the Rams continued to press, and this lead to some gaps appearing at the back as the game got stretched. Maldon pulled back what seemed to be a consolation goal, but instead this just led to a rapid exchange of goals, with Donnelly adding his second, and George Morris scoring his first goal of the season to cap an excellent individual performance as the Rams ran out 5-2 winners.
The playoff success now sees the Rams move on to face a home and away semi final against league leaders Focus Ferrers Dynamos next month.
