A hat-trick from Reuben Wiggins-Thomas added gloss to a magnificent performance from Carlton Town on Saturday against Romulus.
Their first win in 6 games proved to be emphatic, although, the visitors did have a great opportunity midway through the first half; Tyron Amory was sent through on goal only to be denied by the impressive Jonathan Viscosi, down low. Up to that point, The Millers had held their own very well against their West Midland counterparts. Lee Potts had seen his effort from the edge of the box saved by goalkeeper Lewis Exall, after good work by Reuben Wiggins-Thomas to hold the ball up.
Romulus had started the game relatively well but weren’t able to capitalise on the decent positions they found themselves in. Their crossing was appalling and their lack of invention in the final third came back to bite them in the 43rd minute as Wiggins-Thomas latched onto a ball that evaded strike partner Brothwell’s possession, coolly slotting his effort low to Exall’s right-hand side. That goal was the opener but just two minutes previous to that, Martin Ball thought he’d got Carlton off the mark, bundling the ball over the line from close range, only to be ruled out for offside.
It took 5 minutes of the second half for Carlton to double their advantage, yet more good work from Wiggins-Thomas on the right-hand side of the area resulted in a lay off for midfielder Lee Potts to drive home from the edge, on his left foot.
Carlton went on to dominate proceedings, but in the 64th minute there was a minor scare as Tyron Amory got his head to a left wing cross, nudging it back across the face of goal and just wide of Viscosi’s right-hand post. That was to be the best Romulus fashioned for the remainder of the game. 4 minutes later, saw the introduction of Sam MacVicar for Joe Brothwell, who incidentally had one of his quieter games.
MacVicar went close immediately after coming on as he was sent through by Wiggins-Thomas on the edge of the penalty area, only for the big man to fire straight at Exall. He did pay back his manager’s belief in the 76th minute though. Lee Potts swung a free kick over from the right hand side, it appeared to go all the way in, but after the game it was confirmed MacVicar got the faintest of touches to claim his goal.
That made it 3-0 and the Stoke Lane faithful would only need to wait a couple more minutes before a fourth was added to the total. MacVicar again stung the palms of Exall in the Romulus goal, forcing a corner. Jordan Vilums delivered a typically dangerous inswinger, The Roms’ defence struggled to deal with the melee around the 6-yard box and Wiggins-Thomas claimed his second of the afternoon, bundling in from close range.
The 80th minute saw the introduction of Courtney Hastings, who showed some lovely touches after coming on and looked very dangerous running into the inside-left channel. His tenacious work won The Millers a corner in the 89th minute, and after another superb delivery from Vilums, Wiggins-Thomas was on hand to dispatch his hat-trick goal, again from 6 yards out. After some dispute amongst the fans that it may have been Grant Brindley’s goal, it was duly handed to Reuben. It rounded off a superb display for the frontman whose work rate was not to go unnoticed and Carlton will be hoping that this performance signals a return to form after being recently removed from the transfer list.
After the game, when manager Les McJannet was quizzed on what he felt went right today, he responded in simple fashion: “We carried on as we did against Rainworth. In that game we created enough but the goals just wouldn’t go in, today they did.”
Grant Brindley also claimed the fourth goal to be his own. When he was asked about it, this was his response: “It’s definitely mine, ask the dressing room, the fans, the chairman, the bar staff, they all know it’s mine. It’d be nice for Reuben to get a hat-trick but he can’t claim goals he hasn’t got!”
Victory leaves Carlton 8th in the table but only 5 points behind Coalville in 3rd. Onwards and upwards from here!
Attendance: 83
Teams:
Carlton Town:
Jonathan Viscosi; Kameron Campbell, Billy Bennett, Grant Brindley, Martin Ball; Ben Flynn, Jordan Vilums, Kallum Keane, Lee Potts; Reuben Wiggins-Thomas & Joe Brothwell.
Subs: Curtis McDonald, Josh Thornton (58′), Courtney Hastings (80′), Sam MacVicar (68′), Anton Robinson
Romulus:
Lewis Exall; Greg Downes, Scott Meer, Cameron Lee, Liam Francis, Blake Thompson, Marcus Brown, Daniel O’Callaghan, Craig Marshall, Thomas Turton & Tyron Amory.
Subs: Peter Folkes, Paul Evans, Ajay Chohan, David Barnett, Danico Johnson (68′)
Under The Floodlights 