‘Demons buried’ as Romans ease into round two of cup
Scott Wilson’s double helped City cruise to the Somerset Premier Cup 2nd Round at the expense of Western League Division One side Brislington.
The forward scored his first goals for the Romans at Twerton Park, with Rex Mannings also netting in a comfortable success.
Brislington ended with 10 men when Danny Dodimead was shown a straight red midway through the second half for abusive language.
The only sour point for City saw Dan Greenslade’s return from a hamstring injury cut short as he was forced off inside 12 minutes having missed the previous three games.
Jerry Gill opted for a 3-5-2 formation and a strong line-up, with academy product Ben Ford the only unfamiliar name in the 16-man squad.
The right wing-back showed promise, whereas Greenslade on the other flank barely had time to get into his stride before injury struck again as Elliott Frear replaced the Welshman early.
It did City no harm as Frear’s pinpoint crosses proved a useful ally, one of which created the first goal on 24 minutes.
Having created half a yard of space past former City youth fullback Lewis Ewins, Frear’s delivery was headed home by the unmarked
Wilson from eight yards.
A similar move nearly added a second four minutes later, this time Alex Fletcher’s downward header was superbly tipped away by George Dorrington, the first of many fine saves by him.
In response the Step 6 side struggled to make inroads, with Joe Mcclennan dinking an effort off target after the former Westonsuper-mare man’s free-kick was half-cleared.
While Brislington coped admirably in the first half against a side four divisions above them, the second proved a difficult exercise for Lee Perks’ men as City poured forward hungry to add to their tally.
Fletcher’s thunderous strike cannoned off the face of the bar after the forward linked up with Ford, before City added a second on 54 minutes.
Jack Batten’s through ball gave Frear an opening, but excellent blocks from the visiting backline appeared to stifle the danger. However, Rex Mannings arrived to superbly drive home low from 20 yards inside Dorrington’s right post, opening his Twerton Park account on top of three goals in the competition for Frome last term.
Within a minute it was 3-0. Joel Smith’s woeful back pass was seized upon by Wilson, who composed himself before rounding Dorrington and slamming home to wrap up the tie.
Dodimead became the sixth Brislington player sent off already this term when referee Simon Shaw overheard some choice words from the midfielder, leaving the Bristol side a man down for the final 23 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, this invited more pressure on the visitors’ goal. Dorrington denied Luke Spokes and then showed superb reflexes to tip over an attempted headed clearance by his own captain Asa White.
Dan Hayfield became the second man to hit the bar, with Dorrington later preventing Frear and Fletcher as he kept the score down for his side.
In response, substitute Taylor Walker thumped wide after a Joe Wright error, but the keeper redeemed himself with a decent stop from Harry Tobin as the Western Leaguers hunted for a consolation.
It didn’t arrive as City, finalists last season, eased into round two, with Gill encouraged by his side’s display.
“It buries any demons from Saturday,” he said afterwards. “That was the key thing tonight.
“I thought the boys were really comfortable with the new system and, no disrespect to Brislington, but it should have been seven or eight.
“Obviously the level goes up on Saturday against Hungerford, so we’ll have to be at our best, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Gill was encouraged by Ford’s debut, but disheartened to see Greenslade face another spell on the sidelines.
“We’re going to get a scan because it seems to keep repeating,” said Gill of the left-back’s hamstring injury. “We don’t know the extent until we do that.
“He’s worked ever so hard to get back in the team and he’s distraught down there.
“Ben’s position is quite key in the way we want to play it. I saw him in the FA Youth Cup game and he plays for Mangotsfield alongside our youth team.
“He has a great attitude; it’s not easy having never met the group. Putting in a performance like that for 90 minutes is credit to him and the programme at Bath College – it’s a little message that if they’re good enough they’ll get an opportunity to play.”