Sat. 17th March. Evo-Stik Southern Premier Frome Town 2 Kings Langley 1

Frome Town finally got back to winning ways as they overcame a 1-0 deficit at half time, to score twice in the second half, with a penalty from George Miller and flicked header from Joe Raynes, bringing the six-match losing streak to an end.

Frome’s squad showed Connor Roberts replacing Sam Teale in the centre of defence, but with Jon Davies unavailable, the crowd wondered where the goals would come from, to stop the unwelcome run of form.

On a bitterly cold afternoon, with a stiff wind and the temperature hovering just above freezing, Frome started brightly enough with Mitchell Page bringing an early save from Martin Bennett following a run and shot. Chas Hemmings then fed a perfect ball through to Darren Jefferies who was then adjudged offside, and there already seemed to be more about Frome than in recent games.

Frome carried on playing on the front foot and an Ollie Knight left wing cross almost set up Page for a header and with Raynes winning a corner with a deflected shot, the action was at the right end of the pitch for the home fans. But Kings Langley weathered the storm and the half became more even and a bit scrappy, no doubt affected by the stiff wind.

Kings Langley’s Mitchell Weiss brought a first save from Kyle Phillips in the 35th, but Frome then started to look more menacing and with both Raynes and Knight having shots blocked, followed by a Knight shot in the 41st that was just cleared off the line, it was looking quite good. But sport isn’t always fair and Kings Langley took the lead on the stroke of half time as the Frome defence failed to clear their lines and the unmarked Godfrey accurately beat Phillips from ten yards, to score in the corner.

Frome went close two minutes after the restart as George Miller shot from the edge of the box, with Bennett just tipping the ball over the bar. With Page, George Miller and Kris Miller all hammering right wing crosses across the face of the goal, Frome were getting closer, but failing to find that elusive final touch.

The break through arrived in the 68th minute as Knight lofted a dipping ball into the penalty area and as Bennett called for the ball, Page nipped in front of him and back headed the ball over the advancing keeper, only to be well and truly clattered in the process. As the ball was just cleared off the line by a defender, the chance seemed to have gone, but the referee penalised the challenge by Bennett and George Miller made no mistake from the penalty spot to level the score at 1-1.

Miller was involved again in the 77th as his perfectly flighted free kick from the right found the head of the stooping Raynes and the ball flew towards the top corner, hitting the inside of the post and then going over the line, perhaps showing that Frome’s luck was on the change and giving the home side a 2-1 lead.

Frome had a chance to wrap the game up in the 83rd as Hemmings played Jefferies through, but Bennett  pulled off a very good low save to deny him. As the match moved into the last five minutes, Kings Langley started to throw players forward in search of the equaliser, but couldn’t find the final ball that would cause Frome problems and as the final whistle blew, there was a sense of relief around the ground.

Frome now move into three matches away to top sides, and predicting the outcomes of those matches could well prove impossible as the side is much more capable than their recent run of results would suggest.

George Miller was awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match Award by match sponsors “The London Millers on Tour”, and he did have a good game, scoring one and making another. Whether or not the “London Millers” are related to George Miller, I have no idea 🙂