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Rocester will visit Oadby Town in the Second Round of the Midland Alliance League Cup after they knocked out old rivals Biddulph Victoria at Hillsfield on Tuesday evening.
After hitting eight goals in their previous two outings, the Romans continued their rich vein of form in front of goal with another four against Biddulph, which left their spirited opponents with too much to do on the night.
The Vics started the better of the two teams and had Rocester on the back foot for much of the opening twenty minutes, but the Romans weathered the early storm thanks to some resolute defensive work and one narrow escape when Shaun Mould’s header from Danny Smith’s free kick clipped the top of the crossbar with Richard Froggatt beaten.
Rocester had threatened a couple of times themselves through Dean Watkiss, who watched Vics keeper Stuart Heeps save a low drive at his left-hand post and then palm an inswinging corner out from underneath the bar, but then two set-piece goals inside four minutes tilted the balance in Rocester’s favour.
James Curley was first on the scoresheet when he rose superbly to send a downward header from Watkiss’s 21st minute corner into the net, and Mark Hodson quickly followed suit when he met Josh Butler’s free kick from the right touchline with a well-directed flick header that dipped inside the back post.
Chris Baker pulled one back for the visitors thirteen minutes into the second half, but another two-goal burst at the other end immediately put paid to any hopes they had of a comeback.
Watkiss did the damage with a beautifully struck free kick into the top corner from 18 yards on 65 minutes, and he made it 4-1 just moments later when he fired a volley past Heeps from a similar distance after Shawn Salmon’s right-wing cross had been deflected up and into his path.
Danny Smith kept the game alive when he netted a spectacular 25-yarder that squeezed perfectly into the top right corner of Froggatt’s net, but a couple of dangerous solo runs into the area by Matt Pearson during the closing stages was as close as they could get to further reducing the arrears.
Scorers: Romans: Curley (21), Hodson (24), Watkiss (65) (68). Vics: Baker (58), Smith (70).
Romans: Froggatt; McGinley; Butler; Hodson; McLeod; McComisky; Watkiss (Beech 90); Curley; T.Salmon (Hewitt 75); S.Salmon (Redshaw 83); Sheridan. Subs not used: Walker; Hayden.
Vics: Heeps; Price; Pearson; D.Smith; Burge; Clarkson; Hamilton; Chadwick (Massey 79); Marrow; Baker (C.Smith 46); Mould. Subs not used: Platt.
Yellow Cards: S.Salmon, McGinley (Romans).
Referee: Mr. T. Harty (Wolverhampton).
Attendance: 72 |