Sat 26th Mar Southern League Div. One. Att: 514 Frome 1 Larkhall Athletic 1
A LATE goal from Harry Baker, on what was his second debut for the club, earned Frome a point against local rivals, Larkhall, at Badgers Hill.
Baker, who only returned to the club on 24th March, came off the bench to head in an equaliser in the dying minutes after Larkhall captain, Josh Jones, had opened the scoring not long before.
It was a frustrating first half for the league leaders, as after Kane Simpson shot straight at visiting ‘keeper Shaun Semmens in the opening minutes, they struggled to fashion presentable goal-scoring opportunities.
James Carey was largely underworked at the other end of the field also. Even though Larkhall midfielder Owen Humphries was happy to regularly try his luck from distance, the accuracy of his shooting often let him down.
The game became increasingly stop-start as half-time approached, with both sides breaking up opposition attacks, with cynical fouls that thwarted any attacking momentum.
Ryan Harley came close to a first goal in Frome colours in first half injury-time, firing inches over the bar after being set up by Simpson, but a frustrating first 45 ended goalless.
The Robins came out for the second half with far greater purpose about them, but they still found it hard to break Larkhall down.
Rex Mannings broke the offside trap on the hour mark, but his cutback lacked the requisite power to pick out Simpson for a tap-in.
A succession of corners that followed were well defended by the away side, and they very nearly took the lead on the counterattack when Humphries hit the side netting after cutting infield from the left.
As the game looked set to meander towards a scoreless draw, Jones lost his man at the back post and connected sweetly with a wide free-kick, to seemingly set his side up for victory.
However, it was the Robins who had the last laugh. After captain Teale had seen an initial header from a corner cleared off the line, his second effort was diverted into the net by substitute Baker, to send Badgers Hill barmy on a balmy evening in Somerset.
The draw has extended Frome’s lead at the top of the Southern League Division One South table after second-placed Cirencester were beaten by Willand.
