Tobias Salmon provided the best moment of the game when his superb 20th minute finish gave Rocester the lead. His younger brother Shawn had been pulled back by his marker out on the left touchline, but referee Simon Lane played a good advantage and Shawn’s incisive ball forward sent Tobias clear of the defence, and he whipped the ball past goalkeeper Perry Cox from the left-hand angle of the penalty area.

Cox did well five minutes later to save a vicious shot on the turn from Shawn Salmon, but with precious little goalmouth action at either end the goalkeepers were largely unoccupied.

After the turn-around Highgate began to assert some pressure down the slight slope, but despite one or two dangerous-looking crosses they couldn’t find an end product and it was the Romans who almost snatched a second goal on the break when Adam Hewitt’s measured pass allowed Shawn Salmon to burst into the area. However, Ed Green came racing across to make a great tackle just as the striker was about to pull the trigger.

Shawn was involved again when Rocester controversially doubled their lead on the hour. There was a hint of offside when the ball was initially played out to him on the right wing, but as James Curley tried to control Salmon’s cross deep inside the area the ball hit his arm before he neatly tucked it into the net. However, the Highgate protests fell on deaf ears and the goal stood.

The home side continued to pump the ball forward and Tom Thacker forced a decent save from Richard Froggatt with a low shot that was creeping inside the keeper’s left upright, but just moments later Thacker got his goal when he knocked the ball past Chris McComisky and slotted the ball past Froggatt as he came off his line.

It set up a tense final twenty for the Romans, but Froggatt’s goal remained untroubled apart from two near misses within seconds of each other when Dean Watkiss cleared off the line and Tom Reynolds headed narrowly over the bar.

Scorers: Highgate – Thacker (70). Romans – T.Salmon (20), Curley (61).

Highgate: Cox; Sammons (Green 56); Giddings; Checketts (Holtom 78); Turner; Edwards; Kitchins; Reynolds; Hall (Kerrigan 70); Thacker; Hands. Subs not used: Grogan; Rees.

Romans: Froggatt; McGinley; Butler; Hodson; McLeod; McComisky; Watkiss; Curley; T.Salmon; S.Salmon; Hewitt (Beech 80). Subs not used: Justin; Hayden; Redshaw; Meakin-Richards.

Yellow/Red Cards: None.

Referee: Mr. S. Lane (Birmingham).

Attendance: 64.

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