A very good away performance saw Frome Town comfortably win 4-0 at relegated Bashley thanks to a brace of goals in each half.
When Bashley won 2-1 at Frome on 11th January this year, it was generally recognised as one of Frome’s worst performances of the year, and it seemed that relegation was almost a certainty, but things have changed a lot since then, and under the guidance of Adrian Foster and Paul Thorpe, Frome are now in a comfortable mid table position.
Frome started very quickly in this match and virtually laid siege to the home goal for the first quarter. Ben Thomson brought a great save from Nic Jones in the 2nd minute as he let fly with a low shot from 20 yards, then a whipped cross from Kris Miller almost found Jack Vallis at the far post and Thomson again went close as he was teed up by Matt Groves after good work by Mark Cooper.
Thomson had a header cleared off the line Brad Morris in the 11th minute, Vallis went close again after getting his head to a Jon Vance free kick and Brandon Mundy was then denied by a superb last minute tackle from Adam Flint. The pressure was rewarded in the 20th minute as a Matt Smith chip allowed Jack Vallis to head towards goal and Rhys Baggridge was on hand to fire the rebound home from close range.
Ben Thomson doubled the lead eight minutes later as he powerfully headed home a Jon Vance corner, and with a little more luck in front of goal, Frome could well have been further ahead at the break, with Thomson, Miller and Josh Ford all having opportunities which either just missed the target or brought saves from Jones.
Bashley battled back into the game in the second half with Jack Odam trying unsuccessfully to lob Darren Chitty in the 53rd minute, but then Frome should have increased their advantage six minutes later as a superb right wing cross from Miller was headed over the bar from six yards by the diving Matt Smith. After Vance had curled one close in the 70th minute, Frome then made it 3-0 after 80 minutes as Mark Cooper surged forward and planted a right foot shot into the far corner after a 1-2 with Thomson.
Four minutes later, the score was 4-0 as Kris Miller slotted home a penalty after a superb ball from Tim Stephenson had set Jamal Branker free, only for him to be taken down after rounding Nic Jones. Darren Chitty produced a brilliant back pedalling save to turn over a dipping volley a minute later to deny Bashley a consolation goal, and Frome moved into 11th position in the league.
