Frome Town overcame the challenge of Mousehole in front of 1099 spectators at Badgers Hill, to book their spot in the play-off final.
A James Ollis brace and a Kane Simpson strike in the first half were enough to see the BA11 side through to the final, even with a second half red card for George Rigg throwing a spanner in the works.
Danny Greaves made two changes to the side that made a late comeback against Bristol Manor Farm last Saturday, the experienced Matt Smith replaced Will Taylor, whilst Sam Heal, who had a fantastic game down the left, replaced Joe Budd who dropped to the bench.
Play-off games are quite frankly unpredictable, anything that happened in the regular season goes out the window and in a one off game of football anything could happen, so it was important to get off to a good start, which The Robins certainly did.
Just five minutes in, The Seagulls looked comfortable in possession but a loose pass was cut out by Ollis with the ball falling to Simpson in the box, he could have taken an early shot on his left, but composed himself in the box, cutting on to his right foot before firing into the bottom corner, certainly settling the nerves if there were any.
The away side did respond well to the early setback however and Hayden Turner found himself through on goal after Warren Maidment slightly mistimed his header but he could only scuff his shot straight at Kyle Phillips.
Turner then had another chance three minutes later after he received the ball down the right but his near post effort was beaten away by Phillips once again.
After that phase it was all Frome, Matt Smith had a chance well blocked in the 15th minute, but the general sense around the ground was that another goal was coming.
And that’s exactly what happened in the 19th minute when Rigg’s corner perfectly met the head of Ollis, who buried his effort well past Oliver Chenoweth in the Mousehole goal, to give the Robins a two goal advantage.
The chances certainty kept coming too, in the 28th minute, Zak Drew did fantastically well to keep the ball alive down the right and sent a reading cross, which was just too high for Heal, he managed to recover the ball however and his cross was cleared only as far as Rigg who saw his effort deflect wide of the post.
Heal was once again at the fore front of a Frome attack when he saw the ball pinged out to him in the 41st minute, he magnificently controlled it before firing an early cross in, which met the head of Drew but he could only divert it over the bar.
The former Chippenham Town fan then bagged a deserved assist just before half-time, all but sealing Frome’s place in the play-off final.
Healy picked it up in the middle of the park before driving down the left hand side, then unselfishly pulling back for Ollis, who swivelled and struck past Chenoweth, giving the Robins a commanding lead at the break.
The second half was more of the same, Mousehole did step it up slightly but Frome stood firm and were still winning plenty of balls in the middle of the park.
However, the high spirits were somewhat dampened in the 58th minute when Rigg was given a second yellow for a late challenge, giving the away side a much needed life-line.
Nonetheless, the decision didn’t have too much of an impact on the game, the home side still looked comfortable, despite the Seagulls having a few more chances, one of those came from the free-kick given, but Phillips managed to parry the effort out for a corner.
Fresh legs were introduced for both sides soon after, for Frome, Budd replaced Drew giving us a bit more control in the middle whilst Reece Rusher replaced Smith five minutes later, providing some more energy down the wing.
Sam Meakes also replaced Simpson ten minutes later, with the former causing plenty of havoc and asking loads of questions of the Mousehole defence.
He did make an impact in the 79th minute, with Mousehole committing more men forward, there were plenty of gaps amongst their defence which Meakes exploited, he got through before firing an effort which deflected into the path of Ollis, who poked it towards goal but unfortunately couldn’t get his hat-trick.
Away from a few set-pieces and deflected strikes, the Robins were comfortable for the last ten minutes, seeing themselves through to the final whistle and into the play-off final.
It’s confirmed that we will host Bristol Manor Farm once again on Monday 6th May, as they beat Cribbs 2-1.
It’s one more game and one more chance to set the biggest crowd we’ve seen this season, and to finish on a high, we need as many of you there as possible.
Match Report and Live Updates by Harrison Richards