Frome ended a difficult week with a commanding win against Mangotsfield United to maintain their lead at the top of the Southern League Division One South table.
A Rex Mannings wondergoal just five minutes before half-time was followed by second-half strikes from Chris Peck and Joe O’Loughlin to secure a result that a dominant performance merited.
Even though the Robins controlled long spells of the first half, they only had a fantastic goal from Mannings to show for their efforts as they sipped their half-time cups of tea.
A bitterly cold and windy afternoon at Badgers Hill was brought to life by some scintillating attacking play from the home side.
James Ollis passed up a chance in the opening minutes after he had been played through by Kane Simpson, and when Ollis returned the favour for his strike partner 10 minutes later, Simpson was kept at bay by Mangotsfield goalkeeper Jakob Glover.
Despite being on the backfoot in the opening exchanges, the visitors very nearly took the lead when Kye Simpson, Kane’s brother, raced on to a ball over the top of the Frome defence midway through the half and poked an effort just wide of James Carey’s goal.
The Robins re-established their dominance after that brief scare, coming close to taking the lead from a succession of set-pieces that saw Ollis and Simpson fail to make the most of decent sights of goal.
The opener arrived soon after though, and it came from a set-play. Jon Davies free-kick into the box was only partially cleared by the Mangotsfield defence, allowing the ball to fall to Mannings on the edge of the box, and he guided the bouncing ball into the bottom corner with the sweetest of strikes.
Frome continued their momentum after the break, stretching the opposition defence with intelligent movement and neat passing moves.
It was another set-piece that extended the lead though. After Davies had seen a shot turned behind by Glover, he whipped in a corner that was met by Peck at the front post to turn the ball into the net.
Ollis was then denied a deserved goal by a sprawling save from Mangotsfield’s impressive ‘keeper, but there was still time for the Robins to add further gloss to the score-line.
A flowing team move ended with substitute Martin Lenihan squaring the ball across the penalty area to O’Loughlin, who took a touch before confidently firing home.
Frome now have a free midweek for the first time since the middle of October before returning to action with a trip to Evesham in the league next Saturday.