Frome Town battled hard, but suffered a tight defeated to Welsh outfit Merthyr Town at Badgers Hill.
Despite the loss it was an encouraging performance from The Robins, who for the most part compete ever so well against a side who will certainly be up the top come the end of the season.
W
It was a special occasion for a few reason’s, it was our first match back in the Southern Premier League for five, whilst it also marked Sam Teale’s, who’s heading in to his 10th season with us, 300th appearance, what a servant he’s been.
Danny Greaves unsurprisingly named an unchanged side to the one that beat Gosport Borough just last Saturday, whilst also naming the exact same bench.
With a formidable home record last season, Frome certainty wanted to keep that going this season, not fearing any opponent and taking the game to them all, it was clear from the off that was the game plan.
It was a similar first ten minutes to Gosport last Saturday, Merthyr dominated the ball early on and had a good chance to take the lead in the 8th minute after a ball was cut back to Frazer Thomas, adjacent to the penalty spot, he blasted an effort which was superbly blocked by Warren Maidment at point blank range.
As we saw against Gosport, the counter attacks in this league are at a different level, in the 12th minute The Martyrs hit us with one of their own, getting themselves in to a three on three, resulting in Ricardo Rees having a clear shot on goal, Phillips in goal however, was having none of it, making a solid save with his leg before Maidment was able to clear.
The hosts did start to find their feet at this point, six minutes later they won a throw in down the left, it was hurled in and flicked on in to a dangerous area, Jaimie Cogman, however, was alert to claim the ball with no real difficulty.
It was very even from this point onwards, Albie Hopkins was the next man to go close for the home side, he worked the ball exquisitely down the right hand side, earning himself a chance to shoot, with his effort taking a nick, it crashed on to the upright, with Marcus Day attempting to recycle the attack, but to no avail.
The action remained intense on both ends right up until halftime, Teale had a header that looked to be heading in before it was scampered off the line, fortunately you could say the linesman had his flag up, but Cogman wasted no time in getting play restated, sending a route one-esque ball down to Rees, who fluffed another golden chance, firing towards to bottom corner, with Phillips’ boot proving to be impenetrable once again.
It was The Robins with the last big chance of the half, with Zak Drew and Hopkins combining down the right once again, a ball was fizzed in, it appeared to miss everyone including the keeper, but the away side were able to scramble it clear, concluding a first half characterised by competitiveness and constant action.
The second half resumed in the same manner as the first with the Somerset based side launching another long throw-in in to the mix, with the ball finding Day who lamed an effort wide of the right hand post.
53 minutes in, the away side then carved their way through the Frome defence, finding a familiar foe in Roy Simpson, who acquired the ball down the left, cut inside, and with a clear shot on goal, struck his effort out of Badgers Hill, with him probably worrying about the potential damage that could have caused to his car.
The miss was rued for just two minutes, as the deadlock was finally broken by Rees, who was probably disappointed that goal wasn’t for his hat-trick considering some of his earlier misses, he helped a knock back from a corner in, finally breaking a resolute Frome guard.
It was apparent that the goal had settled the game down, with irrefutable evidence that, whilst dominating possession, Frome struggled creating a whole load of clear cut chances, seemingly lacking a bit of composure in the final third throughout the game.
That extended to the 70th minute, a triple sub which saw George Rigg, Matt Smith and Curtis Hutson enter the fray, still didn’t help find a solution to breaking down an austere Merthyr defence.
Whilst soaking up pressure for the last ten minutes, the Welsh side were able to break in the 74th minute, and add a second through substitute Cole Jarvis, who was given the ball down the right hand side and after taking a couple of touches, he cut in on his left foot, stroking an effort which wormed it’s way in at Phillips near post, practically killing the game.
Despite the two goal deficit, the eleven on the pitch still gave it a good go until the end, you couldn’t fault the effort and a goal would have well deserved, Hutson nearly got another after another positive cameo, the ball fell to him nicely on the edge of the box and he fired an effort which was a whisker wide.
It’s Bracknell up next on Saturday, the battle of The Robins, it’ll be another tough encounter and one you certainly won’t want to miss!
Match report and live updates by Harrison Richards
Secure early entry for our encounter against Bracknell by using either the FanBase app or the link below.
Firstly, I’d like to say what an excellent game this was to watch at ‘The Hill’ last night and the Robins certainly played their part in an ‘end to end’ match which was a pulsatingesque affair. with several chances created by both sides, though Merthyr certainly created the better chances and in truth should have added to the two they scored. Kyle Phillips kept out three one on ones and made other key stops. Overall they were clearly the better / sharper side and deserved to edge it. They look a good bet to challenge for the title.
Frome as always never gave up and really should have scored a goal of their own to bring themselves back in it - spurning…