Frome Town Women battled hard to beat Weymouth Ladies with two goals in the last ten minutes from Perkins and Wyatt, finally breaking a resistant Weymouth side.
Playing in front of another strong crowd at Badger’s Hill, Frome started brightly by forcing pressure on the left wing, through Hill, with Harris running through onto goal before being taken out near the edge of the box; a foul for which the referee declined to use any cards. Frome were not able to capitalise from the resulting free-kick either. Moments later, a Petteford corner found Underhill, who flicked on to Perkins who finds Bristow, who sharply tested the goalie from a tight angle. Weymouth kept trying to break forward by feeding their pace on the left but With Edwards winning all the battles, Restorick sweeping up behind and Perkins and Ratcliffe looking solid defensively throughout, the away side were unable to create any clear cut chances, as they made several early rotations to try and build momentum.
As Frome managed to build pressure going forward again, Underhill found Thorner-Atkinson quickly from a throw whose attempted volley was saved by the Weymouth keeper. Half chances for Minty and Thorner-Atkinson also followed. Frome’s best half of the chance came soon after when Underhill made a looping header inside a crowded box towards the far post only for Weymouth’s keeper to dive low to her left and pull off an outstanding save to keep the score at 0-0. With a few minutes to go before half time Frome decided to change things with Starr and Whisstock on for Bristow and Petteford. Soon after, Thorner-Atkinson crossed to Harris which the Weymouth defence cleared to Underhill who fired the shot into goalie’s arms. At half time Frome made a triple change with Peet, Didymus and Wyatt coming on for Hill, Minty and Ratcliffe.
The introduction of Peet created more space with Peet and Harris linking up well with Thorner-Atkinson moving into the role behind the two strikers. Frome looked energised and motivated for the second half, with the crowd in good voice as they pushed Weymouth back into their own defensive third, continuing to create chances, with Starr attempting from range and Peet trying from a tight angle. Peet had a great chance to put Frome level when sent clear through but her shot was angled just over the bar. It was a clear sign that Frome’s pressure was mounting though.
Meanwhile, defensively, Frome looked sound with Didymus soaking up Weymouth’s pace on the right, and Edwards doing the same on their left wing. Perkins (today’s Player of the Match) continued to dominate in the middle of defence with a towering aerial presence and timely interceptions on the ground. Into the final ten minutes of the game, with Frome dominating the game and the patience paid off when a beautifully floated Wyatt corner found the head of the rising, Perkins, whose expert glance saw the ball curve into the top corner to make it 1-0 to Frome, much to the roar and delight of the home crowd.
Minutes later Thorner-Atkinson crossed and Wyatt gets a touch from a tight angle to stab the ball home and seal the three points. In the closing stages, Frome rotated again bringing Bristow, Minty and Hill on for Thorner-Atkinson, Harris and Starr to help see the game out.
Ben Bolland the Women's team Manager said: “We finished on a high today, after a tough first half. In the second half, we put Weymouth under a lot of pressure and got the goals we deserved. We know we can step things up another gear or two. But, its great momentum to take us into next Sunday’s cup game.”
The win keeps Frome in second place in their League, with just two games to go for the home side. They now look forward to their cup semi-final next Sunday when they host Frampton Rangers Ladies in the Somerset Ladies Junior Cup, at Badger’s Hill.
Massive thanks to Ryan Atkins for the match report.
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