A disappointing performance from Frome once again resulted in a narrow defeat to a late goal as Swindon Supermarine scored twice after going behind to a Kris Miller first half goal, to allow the visitors to overtake Frome in the fight to avoid the relegation positions.
With Frome recently making a habit of doing OK in matches, but always seeming to concede defeat to a late goal, a home game against a side just below them was a good chance to stop the rot and put a bit of breathing space in the fight to avoid the drop into the bottom three relegation places.
With the side including new signings Tristan Plummer and Jonny Groman, and with Ryan Bath back from suspension, maybe this was the time to do it?
The first quarter was fast and furious, but not a lot else, and it took until the 16th minute for the first attempt on goal from the visitors that was tipped over by James Carey for a corner; and with the unmarked Matt Williams heading the corner just wide, it was a bit of a wake up call.
Frome took the lead in the 25th minute as Kris Miller once again showed that a player running at pace with the ball and getting to the dead ball line will always cause problems. This time he shot well from a tight angle, only for Will Henry to parry the ball, but with Kane Simpson able to play the ball back to Miller, his second low shot buried itself in the corner of the net and things were looking good.
Once again, the match settled into a midfield battle, but Supermarine then equalised in the 38th as Ryan Campbell finished off a good right wing move as the ball was played across to him and a low left shot hit from 5 yards outside the box rifled into the bottom far corner past the despairing dive of Carey, and with Carey saving low with his feet just before the break, the match was starting to get away from Frome a little.
The second half was similar to the first in that it was fast and open, but both sides showed that they were short on composure in front of goal, and both keepers were having relatively easy games. Frome’s only half chance came in the 56th as Alex Monks clipped a shot towards goal following a corner, only for a defender to head it off the line. Carey had to be quickly off his line a few minutes later to just beat a Supermarine forward to the ball.
The game changed dramatically in the 78th minute as Frome committed a host of players up for a corner, leaving a large gap in midfield, and as Teale went down under a challenge, Supermarine took their chance. Campbell picked the ball up and ran at the home defence, drawing players towards him before releasing the perfect through ball into the path of substitute Connor McDonagh, who made no mistake with a low shot from close to goal.
As the teams lined up for the restart, Sam Teale was seen to be walking angrily from the pitch, the assumption being that he had been shown a red card for something he said to the referee in the aftermath, and with ten men and a goal down, a Frome win was now looking unlikely.
Josh Brace replaced Kris Miller a few minutes later, which was probably just as well, as Miller was also looking incensed. But from that moment onwards, the visitors took control of the game and never looked in danger of conceding their advantage,. The only chance Frome had, came in the 95th minute, but the corner was punched clear by Will Henry and the whistle blew.
Star man: Sam Teale.
