Steve Jupp, BA11's Club Historian, previews our first home encounter of the season.
Badgers Hill last staged a Southern League Premier Division fixture on Easter Monday 2019. The Robins had been relegated by then but ended a dismal run of six defeats in a row with a spirited 0-0 draw against high-flying Salisbury and many of the 467 present that day must have wondered if their side would ever return to the giddy heights of Step Three football.
Well wonder no longer, for Tuesday evening marks that welcome event with the visit of Welsh Non-League giants Merthyr Town, flying high themselves after Saturday’s 6-0 thumping of Tiverton, and the early return to Dodge of hat-trick hero Kane Simpson.
Danny Greaves’ charges too will be buoyed by their own exploits at the weekend down in deepest Hampshire and will be keen to preserve a magnificent home record stretching back to the season before last of TWENTY-FIVE league matches unbeaten.
The Martyrs are no strangers to this neck of the woods, regular visitors in the not too distant past and while they have never lost at The Hill, Frome formed that handy habit of picking up the points at Penydarren Park.
Season Home Away
2015-16 D 1-1 D 1-1
2016-17 D 2-2 W 2-1
2017-18 L 1-2 W 4-3
2018-19 L 2-3 W 3-1
After a bright start last term, Merthyr just missed out on a play-off spot by finishing sixth, but they have come a long way since reforming from the financially stricken Merthyr Tydfil in 2010 when they had to start again from the lower reaches of the Western League.
They spent a decade as a Football League outfit in the 1920s (best finish 8th in Division Three South), have been Southern League champions a joint record six times and once finished fourth in the Conference. Their most memorable achievement, however, has to be, as winners of the Welsh Cup in 1987, beating Italian representatives Atalanta 2-1 at a packed Penydarren Park in the European Cup Winners’ Cup. The away leg was subsequently lost 0-2 but it’s an episode fondly remembered in South Wales.
While much recent talk has been about how the the shackles might be applied to Frome’s leading league goal scorer from last season, it’s worth remembering that The Martyrs’ Ricardo Rees also helped himself to a hat-trick in the tanking of Tiverton, in whose colours King Kane returned a couple of years ago and scored the winner in an FA Cup tie.
One who will be right in the thick of attempting to blunt the cutting edge of that deadly duo is Captain Fantastic Sam Teale, now in his TENTH season as a Robin, who will be making his 300th appearance for the club which, all being well, will be marked by a presentation from the Supporters Club prior to kick-off.
A fabulous milestone, and if it could also be marked by another team performance like Saturday, it should be a night to savour.
Now the fixture list is out, don't miss the chance to take advantage of our Season Tickets which you can secure on the FanBase app (link below) as well as tonight's encounter against Merthyr.
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