Nevertheless they had not really been able to test keeper Luke Woodall—who was deputising for the Romans regular stopper Richard Froggatt—until they went ahead in the 21st minute.

Inevitably Murphy was involved as he threaded the ball through the congested penalty area to find Hayden who, despite being under pressure from McComisky, determinedly stretched out a leg to reach it just before the advancing Woodall and  prod it over the line.

The influential Murphy then set up Town’s next opening 10 minutes later with a crossfield pass to Thompson and his well-struck shot from 12 yards out was smartly saved by Woodall diving to his right.

With Andy Gregory and Dan Parker in commanding form in the centre of Town’s backline ably supported by Danny Haynes and Ward on the flanks, little was seen of the Romans’ attack. But they at last brought Richard Morris into the action 10 minutes before the break when the Town keeper safely held a header from Leon Pugh which eventually turned out to be their only on-target effort of the game.

But even if they were struggling up front the Romans were proving hard to break down at the back with the uncompromising pairing of McComisky and Darren Bullock making sure that any Town player with even half a shooting chance was instantly closed down.

Town though beavered away and got the crucial second goal their overall play warranted in the final minute of the half when Reynolds controlled a centre from Haynes 15 yards out and drilled a crisp right-foot shot across Woodall into the bottom corner of the net.

There was little change in the pattern of play after the restart. Woodall did well to cut out a whipped-in cross from Hayden as Wright closed in while in a rare Rocester attack at the other end the immaculate Parker slid in with a perfectly timed tackle to thwart leading scorer Chris Sterling.

Woodall then had to stretch to palm away a Ward free-kick on the hour-mark before the Romans made a double substitution in an attempt to get back into  the game.
The change though had little impact and Town continued their control of midfield without really threatening another goal. Thompson probably had the best chance midway through the half when McComisky missed a Hayden cross giving the Town striker a clear sight of goal but he pulled his effort wide.

The busy Holland gave Town supporters a scare in the 80th minute when he wriggled through two or three unconvincing tackles to fire narrowly wide.  Town were easing to their ninth league win of the season until Stuart Herlihy suddenly collected two yellow cards in the space of four minutes—each for over-robust challenges—leaving Town to see out no less than eight added  minutes with only 10 men.

But Rocester couldn’t make their numerical advantage count and Town went close to adding a third with Murphy blazing over when put through by Wright and Joss Holford having a useful effort deflected behind.

The match marked the halfway stage of Town’s league campaign, and their haul of 32 points leaves them well adrift of the leading sides. But hopefully they can improve on that return in the second half of the season and begin to move steadily upwards even if the top spot is now beyond them.

Stratford Town: Morris, Haynes, Ward, Reynolds, Gregory, Parker, Herlihy, Murphy, Thompson  (Molyneux 77), Beckley (Joe Wright 8),  Hayden (Holford 82). Unused subs: Faulds, Brady.
Attendance: 192.
Stratford man-of-the-match: Dan Parker.
View from the dugout: Manager Morton Titterton reflected on a satisfying afternoon: “I was pleased with how we played particularly as it was only our second game in four weeks.  It was a comfortable win for us over a well organised and hardworking side built on a solid performance from our back four who restricted Rocester to shooting from long range, and once ahead I felt that we were always in control.”