Frome Town made it nine matches unbeaten as they beat tenth placed Redditch 8-1 with a deserved hat-trick from man of the match Jake Jackson, topping off a superb team performance and seeing Frome once again move to within a point of the play-off places.
With Frome able to once again name a completely unchanged side from last week, the only change to the squad was the inclusion of Aiden Kirby on the bench as he returned from Army duties.
After last week’s game against Kings Langley when the ball just refused to go in the net, there was talk in the crowd that one day this Frome side might just score a hat full of goals against someone, and so it was to prove.
The opening quarter was fairly uneventful, but Frome looked to be far more pro-active than Redditch, and with Jackson hitting a shot into the side netting in the 16th, the home side were definitely starting to turn their possession into chances.
A minute later they should have taken the lead as Marcus Mapstone won a header at the far post and, as the ball bounced along the line, both Jackson and Bryant somehow managed not to get a touch and force it over. Redditch goalkeeper Bradley Catlow made a good save five minutes later as Frome carved open the Redditch defence with slick interchanges, and he did well again shortly after to tip a dipping, 20 yard Ollie Knight volley over the bar for a corner.
Catlow was let down by his defence at the corner as Davies swung the ball to Jackson at the far post to control and hammer home a shot into the top corner to give Frome a 1-0 lead.
With Frome completely running the game now, chances for George Miller and Sam Teale came and went before Frome made it 2-0 as Davies turned defence into attack with a run that saw Jackson and Knight going right and left and the Redditch defenders hopelessly outnumbered.
Davies showed his class by waiting for the perfect moment then releasing the ball to Knight who curled the ball over Catlow from 18 yards to make it 2-0 to the dominant home side.
Frome made it 3-0 in the 41st as Davies produced a carbon copy corner after a George Miller shot had been blocked, and again he found Jackson at the far post and, again, Jackson shot for goal, but this time the ball took a deflection and Bryant was on hand at the far post to force it over the line from close range.
No doubt the riot act was read to the Redditch side at half time, but it didn’t make that much difference, Frome were still comfortably the better side, and they made it 4-0 in the 54th after Catlow had made a very good fingertip save to just deny Jackson. But from the resulting corner, a high dropping ball caused chaos and with Clayton Green, Bryant and Knight all being involved, Sam Teale was on hand to supply the final touch that took the ball into the corner of the net.
Redditch finally found some fight after this and pulled one back five minutes later as Danico Johnson finished from close range after Kyle Phillips had saved from Luke Keen.
The fightback soon petered out as Catlow was penalised for pushing a Frome player out the way so that he could punch the corner away. With the referee explaining that he had clearly warned the keeper about this tactic several times, Davies made no mistake and Frome took a 5-1 lead in the 61st minute.
With the game now won, Frome made three substitutions, replacing Davies, Knight and Roberts with Darren Jefferies, James Fitzgibbon and Chris Gregan, and the strength of the squad is now such that they looked just as good for the remainder of the match.
Jackson could easily have added a 6th as he was played in by a misplaced pass from Redditch defender Jordan Cullinane-Lindurg, but he scooped his shot just wide from 15 yards.
Jackson did make it 6-1 in the 77th as Fitzgibbon stormed in from the right and pulled the ball back to him, and he cleverly turned and poked the ball into the far corner of the net despite the attentions of two defenders.
Jackson turned provider three minutes later as he out-muscled Duane Courtney to win the ball and cut in from the right and, despite being on a hat-trick, he unselfishly pulled the ball back for Bryant to hammer home from 10 yards to make it 7-1 and send the home fans into la-la land.
Catlow pulled off a good point blank save in the 87th to deny the rampant Frome forwards, but he was powerless to prevent Jackson from getting his fully deserved hat trick in the 91st minute. Jackson stooped low to head home a cross from Darren Jefferies and give Frome their biggest ever victory in the Southern Premier League over a Redditch side that are still in tenth place in the league.
Hat-trick hero Jake Jackson was deservedly awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match Award by representatives of Carpe Diem Entertainments who had sponsored the match; one that will be remembered for a long time to come. Crowd: 210. Entertainment Value: 5/5.
