Frome continued their push for promotion with a commanding win at Slimbridge on Saturday afternoon.
A first-half strike from Joe O’Loughlin on what was his 100th appearance for the club was complemented by Matt Smith’s goal midway through the second period, as the Robins rarely looked like returning to Somerset without a richly deserved three points.
An energetic start to the game saw both teams threaten early on, and Danny Greaves’ side were grateful for the quick reactions of James Carey in goal as he got down expertly to keep out a close-range effort from Marley Thomas.
The end-to-end nature of the opening stages soon gave way to Frome dominating the ball for much of the first half, and they very nearly took the lead when a Matt Smith strike from the edge of the box cannoned back off the post after 12 minutes.
Smith had another opportunity to open the scoring not long after, as he latched on to an inventive pass from Rex Mannings before Slimbridge ‘keeper Lewis Adams spread himself well to keep the shot out.
Jon Davies had the next chance for Frome but he too was denied by Adams after a loose ball had bounced into his path in the penalty area.
The opening goal did arrive not long after though, as in the 34th minute a flowing passing move culminated in Alex Monks teeing up O’Loughlin on the far side of the box, and rather than cross, the wing-back fired a powerful beyond Adams and into the net.
The Robins thought they had doubled their lead just before the interval when Davies tapped home a ball into the box from Ollis, but the linesman halted any celebrations at an early stage by adjudging that the forward was offside.
There was no let up after the interval as Frome set about extending their lead in order to keep the pressure on Plymouth Parkway at the top of the Southern League Division One South table.
A series of balls played into the Slimbridge box by Davies somehow evaded a team-mate in a red shirt, and the forward was unfortunate not to find the net in the 65th minute when he collected an O’Loughlin pass, beat his man comfortably, and struck the far post with a left-foot strike.
The Robins did not have to wait long to double their advantage though, as moments later an Ollis cross was deflected into the path of Smith, and on this occasion the midfielder made no mistake as he slotted into the bottom corner of Adams’ net.
Frome remained in control of proceedings throughout the closing stages, and the lead was very nearly extended five minutes from time when substitute Kane Simpson curled an effort wide from the edge of the box after being teed up by fellow sub Harry Baker.
The Robins remain three points behind Plymouth Parkway with just two games of the season remaining.
Frome are back in action on Easter Monday when they welcome local rivals Paulton Rovers to Badgers Hill for a 3pm kick off.
All we can do is win and hope! Paulton have drawn four out of heir last six - including excellent draws against Totten and Winchester - this is a dangerous fixture in that context, but hopefully we will win and Paulton will draw with Cirencester and keep them off our backs!
Although Plymouth and BMF have been on superb runs - so have Barnstable . They've won won four of their last six and only lost to Plymouth. Could they possibly get their revenge on Plymouth in the return fixture - a long shot I know but it could happen? Frome need to score a lot of goals in the their last two games to even u…