Chesham Utd 1-1 Frome Town – Evo-Stik Southern Premier, Tues. 7th March

Another excellent, battling performance away to seventh placed Chesham Utd resulted in a 1-1 draw as Aiden Kirby was on hand to cancel out the lead that Chesham had taken with eight minutes to go.

Frome had Kris Miller back at right back after suspension and, with Marcus Mapstone also travelling, the side had a settled look, though both James Fitzgibbon and Jon Davies were missing with injuries.

Frome went close in the 2nd minute as Chesham were penalised for a back-pass to the keeper and George Miller hammered a shot that thumped against the cross bar. As the game settled, it turned into an open, end-to-end affair with both sides looking to get forward at the first opportunity.

Frome again went close in the 11th as Darren Jefferies shot just wide following a good cross from Ollie Knight, but Chesham were always in the hunt.

After a shot had just cleared the bar Phil Roberts cut inside and shot just past the far post, and with a dangerous counter attack by the hosts failing as a cross was just over-hit, this even match was looking unlikely to be a goalless affair.

However, try as they might and despite good approach play, neither side could carve out a clear cut opportunity and both goal keepers remained largely untested at half time.

The second half saw more of the same, but with Chesham coming  out of the blocks a little faster than Frome and starting to shade the midfield battles.

They started to create chances and with two volleys just missing the far post, they began to look the more likely side to break the deadlock.

Kyle Phillips was quickly off his line to save at the feet of Roberts in the 65th minute and Connor Roberts showed his class to bring off a superb saving tackle as Ryan Blake seemed to be clean through on goal and the speed of the Chesham attackers was proving to be a problem for the Frome defence to deal with.

As the pressure mounted, Chesham brought on Drew Roberts as they went for the killer goal and, with 15 minutes to go, Sam Teale very nearly headed a  Chesham corner into the top corner of his own goal.

Eventually the pressure told as a throw in was taken quickly and from the cross Sam Youngs was on hand to score easily to give the hosts a one goal lead with eight minutes to go.

That goal seemed like it might clinch the match, but Frome have a ‘never say die’ attitude this season and they equalised two minutes later as Aiden Kirby was on hand to tap home an Ollie Knight free kick from the edge of the Chesham area.

The goal inspired the visitors who probably had the better chances in the remaining few minutes with Jefferies hitting the side netting and a Knight free kick being saved by Ashlee Jones.

However, neither side could find the winner and in the final analysis the draw was probably a fair result between two good sides.

Defender Connor Roberts was awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match Award for another outstanding performance at centre back. Crowd: 215. Entertainment Value: 4/5.