Crusaders win comfortably

Poole made sure of the league title with a 3-0 win over Dunstable but, although we strengthened our position with a convincing win over Frome, the play-off positions are still “up for grabs”. Redditch and Kettering have to play three games during this  last week of the season, and six clubs still in with a chance  of  one of the four play-off places.. A long trip to Histon on Tuesday, followed by a visit to Leamington on Saturday stand between us and that coveted place in the end-of-season lottery, but there are other crucial games during the week and the permutations are almost endless.

The magnificent win at King’s Lynn during the week must have boosted the confidence of players and supporters, but Frome, who have drawn well clear of the threat of relegation with a great run of results, were sure to pose a real threat and we could not afford any slip-up, especially after Bedworth’s surprising win at Kettering on Thursday.                                                                                                                                         We dominated the early possession but our shooting was wayward, James Clark side-footing his shot easily within reach of Ed Baldy in the Frome goal and Garyn Preen shooting well over the bar. Frome showed their threat when Jon Davies got down the line and put over a good cross, but Paul Strudley pushed the ball away and the danger was cleared. Although we were having the better of the play, we badly needed a goal to settle the nerves and scored in the 35th. minute when Preen’s free-kick was flicked on for Gary Horgan to head in at the far post. We did not defend well as half-time approached, a misunderstanding between Mike Jones and Strudley almost gave the visitors an equaliser, and the visitors were still well in the game.

With the slope in our favour after the interval we soon made it 2-0 when  Jones headed in at the near post from Preen’s corner 6 minutes after the re-start and we took complete control thereafter. Rhys Tyler ran onto a long cross to slot the ball past Baldy after 64 minutes and within a couple of minutes, up popped  Horgan to make it 4-0., an unlikely second goal for the full-back, although this was on a day when all four goals were scored by defenders  The game was as good as over and we were able to stroll through to the end to record a convincing win.

Team; Strudley, Horgan, Tyler, Jones, Day, Rees, Clark, Herring(Rusby)Jarvis(Draycott), Brown(Goodger),Preen.Subs;John,