Ramsgate manager Ady Pennock took plenty from their performance despite suffering a late defeat at the weekend.

Two late goals from substitute Shay Harrison handed much-fancied Eastbourne Borough a 2-0 home win, their seventh successive Isthmian Premier victory.

But it was a game that could have gone either way with Ramsgate having their chances to have taken at least a point on the road.

“We’ll take loads from it,” said Pennock. “It was a really good game. We’re disappointed with the result but we’ve gone toe-to-toe with them.

“It was just the last five minutes, they scored two very good goals.

“I honestly think that the game could have gone either way. If we’d scored first it would have been game over.

“For 85 minutes, it was a really good performance for an away team. Don't get me wrong, Jonny Henly’s made a couple of good saves. But we had three really good chances before they scored in the 88th minute.”

Pennock was impressed by the depth of Eastbourne’s squad and acknowledged that they are the best side they’ve come up against so far this season.

“I think they're the best team that we've played so far,” he noted. “They had a lot of pace, their full-backs and wide players had good pace.

“The substitutes bench was very good and they've got a very good squad. You've got players that are not even in the squad who are very good players.

“For 85 minutes I was very pleased and they scored two very good goals.

“The second one, I stood there clapping, I'll be honest with you, I thought it was an excellent finish. He chipped Jonny and it was just sublime, if you're a footballing person, I don't think you can help it.

“But we gave absolutely everything, we had three or four unbelievable chances to score, but it just wasn't our day.”

Pennock was without Jacob Bland due to an ankle injury so he recalled TJ Jadama from his loan spell at Whitstable.

Jadama came off the bench in the second half for his first minutes under Pennock.

“Jacob got injured in training,” explained Pennock. “It’s nothing major and he had a fitness test before but he was still uncomfortable and couldn’t plant his foot properly.

“We dropped Billy Munday back and Bene Bioletti came in.

“It was really pleasing to see TJ back and when he came on, he looked good.

“He looked up for it and composed. He hasn't been involved with us since we've been in charge so I didn't really want to throw him in at the deep end. But when he came on, he looked nice and bright.

“We’ve thanked Lee Martin and Brian Statham at Whitstable because they looked after him really well. It was a very good loan for TJ and obviously for Whitstable because I don't think he lost a game when he was there.”

Ramsgate host Aveley in the league this Saturday after a run of just two home matches in their last 10 games across all competitions.

It’s a welcome return to Southwood for Pennock against an Aveley side now managed by former Margate striker Alex Akrofi.

“They had a good result last weekend (against Dartford) and are under new management but all games are tough,” warned Pennock.

“It’s just nice to be at home. We’ve had one out of the last six at home but we’ve got a big month coming up.”

Ramsgate are away to Sheppey United in the Velocity Cup tonight (Tuesday) with Pennock confirming they will be fielding a youthful line-up.

“They’ll be youngsters in there, as long as they’ve done their homework!” joked Pennock.