FRANKIE Coleman fired Corsham five points clear at the top of the Premier Division with a goal in a game he wasn't going to play in.

The veteran winger had been named as a substitute on Tuesday evening but was drafted into the starting 11 after Ben Fitch hurt his knee in the warm-up.

Fate must have been smiling on the Reds because after just 13 minutes Coleman tucked the ball under the visiting goalkeeper to seal a 1-0 victory against Bishop Sutton at a cold and windy Southbank.

Corsham manager Colin Bush said: "It's funny how things sometimes work out in football.

"If Frankie had started as a substitute with the way the game went on I would not have put him on because of the pitch conditions."

With Bishop Sutton struggling at the bottom of the table, this encounter was one Corsham were expected to win.

From the outset the home side took control of the game and had a couple of chances to take the lead before Coleman netted following a break down the left.

After going ahead the crowd at the Southbank braving the winter weather could have been forgiven for thinking the Reds would romp to a big victory but it didn't turn out quite as some of them might have expected.

"We were wasteful in front of goal and could have been five or six up at half-time with the amount of chances we created, and the way we dominated the first half," said Bush.

"We never go into a game thinking we should be scoring a lot of goals against a side because they are low down in the table, but in this game itself we did let them off and should have scored more.

"The game was a victim of the weather though. The pitch was frosty which made it very difficult, but in a game like this the result was the main thing rather than the performance."

Although the Corsham attack was guilty of missing chances Bishop Sutton's stopper thwarted them on a number of occasions pulling off some good saves.

While their goalkeeper was keeping them in the game, the visitors' strikers never really threatened Craig Chaplin in the Corsham goal apart from one attempt that crashed into the crossbar.

Throughout the second half the Reds continued to press for another goal to make the game safe.

Daniel Western, who scored twice against Keynsham last week, could not have been any closer with his attempt. Soon after coming off the bench he struck a shot that hit the inside of the post and the ball trundled across the face of the goal.

Bishop Sutton did well to keep Corsham out on a number of occasions, but made the mistake of playing too far up the pitch, allowing the Reds to keep breaking through.

Said Bush: "All credit to our defence because they kept a clean sheet. Although we only got one we will score many goals if we take the chances and on the positive side we are creating plenty of chances.

"As I've said before I never criticise the strikers for missing as long as they keep turning up and getting in the right positions."

Corsham have a game in hand over rivals Barnstaple Town in second place.