Chesham United 2-1 Frome Town – FA Trophy 3rd Qual. Rnd, Tuesday 1st Dec.

After creating most of the chances in this replay, Frome were left to rue their inaccuracy in front of goal as Chesham eventually won through with a penalty and a late, late winner.

Following on from the 1-1 draw on Saturday, Frome Town travelled to Chesham Utd for the FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round replay, with the winners due to pick up a cheque for £4,000 and the right to play the 1st Round proper away at Torquay United.

With Chesham looking forward to their FA Cup 2nd Round proper match at Bradford City on Saturday, there was considerable television interest in this match with two film crews and Football Focus in attendance. Frome’s squad showed a couple of changes from Saturday with Liam Monelle returning from suspension, Tyler Sibbick dropping to the bench, Jon Davies returning to the side and with Nathan Summers unavailable, Kris Miller came into the starting line up.

The last time Frome played at Chesham was in August when they were on the wrong side of a 5-1 thrashing, but after Saturday’s draw, it was clear that the side have come a long way since then.

After a brief stoppage in the 1st minute for repairs to the net, Frome had the first half chance of the match as a Jordan Walker header brought a regulation save from Shane Gore, and on the half-hour, Mitchell Page did very well to win and hold the ball, allowing Rob Hobbs to blast a 25 yard shot just wide, with Gore well beaten.

After Jordy Nkunga had headed a Davies free kick just wide, Chesham showed for the first time in the match as Dave Pearce’s low cross was knocked behind by Ryan Blake, but the first really clear cut chance of the match arrived two minutes before half-time as Monelle rolled the ball back to Hulbert and his pin point cross found Rob Hobbs on his own and ten yards out, but the ball stuck under his feet rather than cannoning into the net.

However, in the second minute of stoppage time, Frome did take the lead and as a long ball through the middle was missed by the Chesham defence, Page used his strength to go through and score with a great finish.

On chances created, Frome deserved their lead at half-time, and the second half started quietly, with the first incident happening in the 52nd minute as Chesham were awarded a penalty as Same Teal brought down Ryan Blake and their equaliser arrived from the penalty spot as Dave Pearce hammered the ball straight down the middle.

Frome had a huge shout for a penalty on the hour as Monelle burst into the area and was just about to shoot when he was pushed to the ground from behind, only to, once again, find himself booked for diving, giving the conspiracy theorists more ammunition for what is becoming a fairly convincing case.

Monelle had a 20-yarder saved by Gore three minutes later, and the hosts created their first clear cut chance of the night as Kelvin Bossman got on the end of a Toby Little cross, only for Darren Chitty to superbly save the header, clawing the ball away to his left.

Frome had a big chance in the 84th minute as substitute Darren Jefferies found fellow sub Tyler Sibbick unmarked, but the big striker completely missed his header from 6 yards out and the chance went begging.

The match was decided in injury time and was the tale of two free kicks. First Frome missed a chance as Jordan Walker found space in front of his marker to get a head to a Miller free kick, only for the ball to clear the bar and a minute later, they were cruelly punished as George Fenton headed a Chesham free kick home at the far post.

Football can be a cruel sport and it was certainly the case over the course of the two matches where the eventual end result of the tie hinged on two or three incidents and decisions, and Frome can be proud of the way they dug in and competed over the course of the two matches.

Entertainment Value: 3/5.