After dominating this match for long periods, Frome failed to convert pressure into goals and they were caught by a classic sucker punch as an injury time goal from Biggleswade’s Craig Daniel that gave the visitors all three points.
With the match starting 30 minutes late due to holiday traffic, the first incident of the match in the 4th minute saw Biggleswade take the lead as Cameron Mawer stroked a free kick low into Darren Chitty’s right hand corner after Evan Key had been fouled on the edge of the area.
Frome were still slow to get going and after Chitty had saved from Lee Allinson a couple of minutes later, Frome’s first real effort came in the 13th minute as a low left wing cross from Jon Vance caused all sorts of problems in the visitors penalty area.
Suddenly it all seemed to click into place and Frome moved into a period of constant attacking pressure that saw Biggleswade defending with 10 players and Frome looking for a way to break them down, with Kris Miller especially finding acres of space on the right.
A big chance came in the 30th minute as Miller was fouled on the right, Vance took the kick, a Rhys Baggridge header hit the crossbar and ball bounced out to Miller whose deflected shot was just saved by Ian Brown on the goal line with many of the home crowd claiming that the ball had crossed the line.
Two minutes later the pressure paid off as Mark Francis hit a screamer into the ribs of Steve Gentle, then picked up the rebound and let fly with a 25 yarder that flew low into the far corner with Brown well beaten. Further pressure produced no more chances in the first half, but Frome came flying out of the blocks in the second half with Hulbert, Miller and Francis all going close in the first five minutes, and Brown did well to push away a Hulbert shot in the 61st minute that seemed to be about to roll into the net.
Waves of Frome attacks continued to roll at the Biggleswade defence, and after Brandon Mundy had produced a great run and cross, Vance almost scored a classic with a 35 yard shot that Brown only just managed to save under his crossbar.
Francis had a great chance to put Frome in the lead in the 75th minute, as he was found by Alex Rigley at the far post, but he seemed to take one touch too many and Brown was able to scramble the ball away for a corner.
But then, strangely, the match seemed to change in an instant, Frome lost momentum, the jitters set in and Biggleswade became more and more confident. Josh Ford did well to stop Sam Reed with a last ditch tackle, then Mark Cooper was forced to clear off his own line after Rigley had lost possession with most of the Frome team up for a free kick, Chitty saved from Zane Banton and the home crowd were now just hoping for a draw rather than expecting the win.
Chitty produced a great double save in the 86th minute as he was left exposed and out of position, but then just as it looked as if Frome were going to scrape a point, two attempts to clear a Biggleswade free kick failed and Daniel popped up to score the winner in the 91st minute with a volley into the far corner to really rub salt into the wound.
Brandon Mundy was awarded his second successive H&B Tyres “Man of the Match Award” by supporter Bo Vincent who had sponsored the match.
Crowd: 181. Entertainment Value: 3.
Frome Town Ladies FC
Despite suffering a 3-0 defeat on Sunday 17th August in their latest pre season friendly, Frome Town Ladies FC can take a lot of positives out of the performance.
The match which was played on a magnificent surface at the Blindmans Brewery Stadium saw higher league opposition and Women’s Premier League club Southampton Saints providing the opposition.
Frome were missing top scorer Becky Yeo centre back Karen Perkins and influential midfielder Elle Saunders, but gave as good as they got in the opening stages, and for 35 minutes there was nothing between the two sides as both.
Frome manager Tim Davis then opted to utilise the match to give pitch time to all his squad and made four changes.
Southampton seized on this opportunity and scored two quick goals before the break. The second half continued in much the same vein, with Frome rotating the squad regularly giving equal playing time to as many players as possible. Despite this and the fact Southampton kept virtually their full strength side on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, the visitors could only muster one more goal midway through the half.
Tim commented, “I was delighted about several aspects of the game. We played really well in the opening exchanges until I disrupted the team but this was always pre planned to happen and the girls were all aware of what was going to happen.
“Fitness levels were reasonably good and we are starting to get over the difficulties of having so many new players integrating with one another.”
MERRIOTT LADIES FC 1 -14 FROME TOWN LADIES FC
Frome Town Ladies FC concluded their pre season preparations at Ilchester on Sunday when they played Merriott Ladies FC.
Frome got off to the perfect start as last season’s top scorer Becky Yeo slotted home a spot kick. After just 10 minutes they doubled the score when Dinham played a great ball wide to Kasey Evans on the right and she powered forward before striking a great right foot shot past the keeper.
Five minutes later Evans replied the compliment by putting in Dinham who screamed a shot home.
Frome made it 4-0 after just 20 minutes when Yeo found Ann – Marie Hervey and she finished neatly.
Skipper Devon Rich got in on the act next when she scored following a great pass from Laura Duck and then Yeo scored her second courtesy of another Evans pass to make the interval score 6-0 to Frome.
Merriott got a consolation goal 3 minutes into the second half but further strikes for Frome came from Elinor Mason (2), Becky Yeo (2), Lucy Dinham (2), Shannon Peaty and Laura Duck.
