Rocester 1 Coleshill Town 5

Match Sponsored By Bowmer & Kirkland Ltd

Ten-man Rocester crashed to a third succesive defeat when Coleshill Town eased to a 5-1 win at Hillsfield on Saturday.

The visitors took full advantage of their extra man following the 23rd minute sending off of striker Shawn Salmon, but that shouldn’t cover up what turned out to be a thoroughly inept performance from a Rocester side that lacked the togetherness and courage required to do battle when the chips are down.

Romans boss Alan Beaman described his defence as being like “an open gate at times”, and few could argue with his assessment as the visiting forwards found space aplenty in and around the area. In fact had it not been for two or three excellent saves from Richard Froggatt this could have been a far more humiliating defeat.

In fairness, Rocester had looked the better side up until Salmon’s dismissal for an alleged kick at Craig Johnson after the goalkeeper had bravely dived to smother the ball. A number of incidents in the ensuing melee went unspotted and punished, but Walsall referee Joe Clark brandished a straight red card at Salmon despite support from Johnson who felt the incident was worth no more than a yellow card.

It was a decision that changed the game and just ten minutes later Chris Gumery put the visitors ahead, hooking the ball past Richard Froggatt following a half cleared corner.

Moments before the break Rocester had a chance to level when Mark Hodson earned a free kick right on the edge of the area, but Darren Bullock’s firmly struck effort flew wide of the left upright.

The Romans started the second half brightly but they were caught out on 52 minutes when Marvin Johnson got in behind the defence before steering a low shot into the far bottom corner, and the game was all but up twelve minutes later when Matty Robinson took the ball round Froggatt to make it 3-0.

However, Tobias Salmon managed to pull a goal back on 70 minutes with a neat 20-yard lob over Johnson, and for a few moments it looked as though Rocester might make a fight of it as they started to play with some urgency.

But any remote hopes of a comeback were quickly snuffed out when Terrence Carpenter (77) restored Coleshill’s three-goal advantage with a tidy finish after getting in behind the defence again.

A Luke Williams free kick right at the death completed a miserable afternoon for Rocester.

Scorers: Romans – T.Salmon (70). Coleshill – Gumery (33), M.Johnson (52), Robinson (64), Carpenter (77), Williams (90).

Romans: Froggatt; Langston; Butler; Meakin-Richards (Davies 81); Bullock; McComisky; Hodson; Curley (McGinley 83); T.Salmon; S.Salmon; Hewitt (Clamp 69). Subs not used: Sheridan; Walker.

Coleshill: C.Johnson; Charles; Williams; Kavanagh; Hamilton; Aronandi (Cameron 60); Powis; Porter; Gumery (Mills 75); Robinson (Carpenter 65); M.Johnson. Subs not used: Freeman.

Red Cards: Romans - S.Salmon (23).

Yellow Cards: Romans - Froggatt, Hodson.

Referee: Mr. J. Clark (Walsall).

Attendance: 87

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