Missing six first team regulars, Frome Town bounced back from the disappointment of Saturday with an excellent, gritty performance that saw them triumph 3-1 at Basingstoke.
Goals from George Miller, Aidan Kirby and returning captain Sam Teale, and with a ‘man of the match’ performance from Darren Chitty in goal, the result showed how good the spirit in the squad is.
With Mitchell Page, Marcus Mapstone, Mike Bryant, Jake Jackson, Josh Ferguson and Jordan Walker all missing from the squad, captain Sam Teale made his first start of the season playing at centre back (instead of his normal left back position), and with the subs bench not containing a single player who has started a match this season, it gives an indication of how stretched things have become, and how good this win actually was.
With Basingstoke having been relegated from the Conference South last season and Frome having memories of a recent 4-0 defeat there in an FA Cup replay, the match kicked off in bright sunshine, on an excellent pitch in front of 447 mostly partisan home supporters.
Frome had the best of a lively start and in the 2nd minute a 20 yard shot from ‘stand-in centre forward’ George Miller stung the hands of Alex Tokarczk before going out for a corner. However, Miller was not to be denied and two minutes later he buried a great shot into the net to give Frome a perfect start.
Frome continued to build on their success and in the 16th a perfect cross from Jon Davies found the head of returning striker Aidan Kirby, only to be headed wide. But two minutes later, Basingstoke showed their intentions bringing Chitty into action with a good save.
After Clayton Green had shot just over from outside the box, another excellent Frome move led to Davies finding space for a Kirby shot, but as it flew just wide it would have been ruled out by the linesman’s flag anyway.
Frome continued to look the more dangerous of the two sides and, after a foul on Kris Miller that earned a booking for Romone Rose, Clayton Green shot just over from the resulting free kick, but Basingstoke were starting to look dangerous and a shot flew into the side netting as they broke clean through for the first time.
As the match approached half time, Basingstoke started to move into the driving seat and Frome were starting to look a little apprehensive, but the defence held firm and Frome very nearly went into the interval with a 2-0 lead as a great run and shot from Darren Jefferies beat Tokarczk but was cleared off the line by a defender.
Ten minutes into the second half, Frome did indeed make it 2-0 as a poor defensive back header was latched onto by Kirby and the striker coolly kept his nerve and went past Tokarczk before slotting the ball into the net to send the home fans and the away fans into raptures.
Stung into action, Basingstoke went roaring back at Frome and Chitty started to earn his man of the match award with a string of excellent saves and the help of the base of the post, but Frome weathered the storm and, after Jefferies had just shot wide, they made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute as skipper Sam Teale rose at the far post to head a Davies corner powerfully home.
Chitty carried on where he had left off to deny Basingstoke a couple more times, but was eventually beaten in the 76th minute as Sam Deadfield finished off a flowing move, and with Basingstoke missing another great chance a few minutes later this was turning into a nail-biting period for the travelling fans.
However, Frome have proved this season that they are a well disciplined and organised side when defending a lead, and they proved it once more as they denied the home side any clear cut opportunities and came away with all three points on the back of a truly excellent performance.
Goalkeeper Darren Chitty was awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match award for yet another inspirational day. Crowd: 447. Entertainment Value: 5/5.
Colin Carpenter
