Frome end season with cup semi-final defeat

Fri 29th Apr. Bath Combination Cup semi-final Keynsham RFC 41 Frome RFC 19

WITH victory over Midsomer Norton RFC in the quarter-finals back in March, Frome RFC travelled to South West 1 West side, Keynsham RFC, for the semi-final of the Bath Combination Cup.

With a chance to make the cup final and play at Bath Rugby’s Rec, the club saw a huge following make the journey to support the men in red, white & black. 

Frome got off to a fantastic start, matching the experience of the home side. The visitors soon gained some valuable territory following a penalty, and from the resultant lineout looked to set up a good attacking position. 

A lineout move straight from the training field saw hooker John Benstead, break away down the line to dive over for the first points of the day. James Howard followed with a great conversion kick from wide. 

With phases building well, Frome were dealt a harsh blow when inside centre Mike Rutt had to leave the field with a serious shoulder injury and wouldn’t return for the remainder of the game. 

A reshuffle in the backline saw replacements Ed Darwent make his way onto the field along with forward Matt King. On 20 minutes Keynsham broke through the defensive line with pace, to dot over for their first score, the fly half adding the extras. 

A penalty at the breakdown in front of the posts saw Keynsham’s fly half adding the extra 3 points. 

A yellow card awarded to Simon Westlake on 28 minutes was followed by two converted Keynsham tries. But Frome continued to work well, with forwards carrying hard and the backline moving the ball well. Pressure on the Keynsham line would eventually tell and centre Dav Jones crashed over for the score. Howard adding the extras. 

The second half didn’t start as planned for Frome, and within 1 minute of kick-off the home side were awarded a penalty, which the fly half duly slotted. 

Frome were working the phases well and were camped in the opposition half for a large part of the second half, but infringements at the breakdown would see Keynsham relieve pressure and score a converted try on 50 minutes. 

Strong carries from prop Elliott Bowler and captain Alex Mallon helped the side build a great platform and, with winger Henry Bull & full back Bailey Rusz showing some excellent darting runs of their own, Frome were soon back in the Keynsham 22. 

With Keynsham being given a yellow card, pressure mounted and replacement second row Simon Travers broke through to score on 60 minutes, the conversion going just wide. 

Frome continued to battle, but Keynsham were able to turnover quick ball and were soon crossing over for another converted try. 

The final minutes of the game were played in the midfield with Frome desperate to bring the scoreline closer, but we’re unable to convert possession into points, and the final whistle was blown. 

The result meant that this would be the last game in charge for Frome RFC head coach Toby Culff, and unit coach/player Elliott Bowler along with director of rugby, Cameron Hastie. 

There were emotional scenes on the field following the game, and the club would like to take the opportunity to express their sincere thanks for all the hard work they have put in over the past few years, gaining promotion for our 1st XV to level 6, and staying up, which has never been achieved. 

1st XV captain, Alex Mallon said, “We’re extremely frustrated that we weren’t able to cap off the season with a cup final at the Rec; it certainly would have been great send off for the backroom staff who are stepping down. However, despite the loss I think we can be really proud of our achievements this season; we’ve had a tough season at level 6 with a mix of results, but we’ve stayed up, and that’s something the club hasn’t achieved before, so we are really pleased with that.  

“Across the seniors teams we’ve had some huge success with the 2nd XV gaining promotion and our 3rd XV fulfilling all their fixtures this season.  

“I must quickly say a huge thank you to the coaching and backroom staff, head coach Toby Culff, unit coaches Elliott Bowler and Dominic Jones, manager Trevor Osborne, sports therapist Alex Joiner and DoR Cameron Hastie – without all yours, and many others’, hard work behind the scenes none of this would have been achievable.” 

Report by Matt Warnock