IN A match liberally sprinkled with red and yellow cards, striker Ben Thomson rose above the mediocrity with a superb hat-trick to drag Frome Town into the second round of the Somerset Premier Cup last night.

Both sides ended the evening with ten men as Adrian Foster’s side needed extra-time to scrape past their Toolstation League opponents 3-2 in extra-time.

With Frome preparing for Saturday’s FA Cup match against Boreham Wood, the home side rested several players and Welton ran the game for the first twenty minutes, justifiably taking the lead with just eight minutes gone a free kick from Daniel Cottle was headed back across the goal for Mark Reynolds to score with a close-range stooping header.

Robins keeper Lewis Pierre did well to parry away a crisp Rovers attempt before visiting goalie Andrew King was called into action with 30 minutes on the clock as he dealt with a left-wing cross.

A minute later, Frome defender Jack Vallis reacted angrily to a challenge by Welton’s Anthony Conradi and both players were sent off.

Hat-trick Ben Thomson replaced Tom Golledge at half-time and his physical presence immediately gave the Welton defence something to think about.

Mark Francis brought a save from King in the 50th minute and went close again with a shot from the resulting corner, but after numerous dubious tackles and yellow cards, Thomson scored his first of the night as he latched on to a great Francis through ball, cut back inside onto his left foot, and curled a perfect strike into the far top corner of the net.

As full-time approached, the yellow cards tally increased, but neither side really looked like breaking the deadlock and the match moved into extra-time.

Welton took the lead in the first extra period as a move down the left led to Rhys Cook pulling ball back for Chris Peck to fire home.

But the second half of extra-time was a different matter and playing with the slope as legs tired, Thomson scored his second of the night with an almost carbon copy of the first, again producing a perfect left-footed shot into the far top corner after cutting in from the right.

As penalties loomed, Thomson fittingly scored the winner with yet another effort into the top corner after being found in space by Francis, with the hosts left to breathe a sigh of relief.

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