Tribute South West 1 East of South West Division. Trowbridge RFC 36 Frome RFC 5
FROME RFC travelled to local rivals Trowbridge RFC looking to gain their first win of the season in South West 1 East.
Frome started strongly but could not convert possession into points. It was the home side who were on the scoreboard first, following a penalty scored when Frome transgressed in the midfield. Despite Frome having a fair proportion of the ball, Trowbridge showed their experience and pounced on any mistake, punishing them with 4 converted tries before half time.
Frome regrouped at half time and started strongly with the forwards led by Geoff Taylor carrying strongly. From a five metre scrum, captain Alex Mallon picked up and attacked the line, breaking through two would-be tacklers to dot down for Frome’s only points of the day, the conversion going just wide.
The remainder of the second half was fiercely contested and Frome managed to keep the home side from scoring until the 70th minute when the Trowbridge forwards combined to score from close range.
Frome RFC Head, Toby Culff said, “Even though they were losses, we actually garnered quite a lot of encouragement and confidence from our first two fixtures against Marlborough and Oxford Quins. We felt completely sure of our place at this level and our ability to compete. Last week’s loss to Sherborne, on the other hand, was completely sapping. I think it left us feeling as bad about our rugby as we’ve felt in years. Rebounding from a performance of that nature was never going to be a quick job – it really knocked us back to square one – so the aspirations for this week were very modest and simple. We just wanted to enjoy our rugby again and to reconnect as a group. We wanted to play some Frome rugby.
“This was by no means a perfect performance, as the scoreline very clearly indicates, but it served its purpose. We’ve reset, changed our outlook, and we’re back in a position from which we can build. We know what we wanted from the game and we achieved the vast majority of it. Credit to the players for their perseverance and spirit, to the coaches for their hard work last week, and to the supporters who actually understood what yesterday was about.”
Frome RFC look forward to welcoming Windsor RFC to The Lane on Saturday 2nd October and will be looking to gain their first win.
Frome RFC 1st XV | 1.Taylor 2. King 3 .G.Benstead 4. Howard 5. James 6. Hastie 7. Toten 8. Mallon (c) 9. J.Benstead 10. Westlake 11. Rusz 12. Frost 13. White 14. Sully 15. D.Thompson 16. Chalmers 17. Randall 18. C.Thompson
Friday. 17th September. Frome RFC 7-
Sherborne 34
With the large crowd to entertain, it was the visitors who showcased fast flowing rugby and were quick to start scoring. Frome were able to hold out in large parts by putting pressure on the final passes but were only rewarded with a try of their own, late into the second half, by centre Ali Frost who linked well with scrum half John Benstead to find a gap and dive over for the score.
Frome RFC Head Coach, Toby Culff commented, “For those of us involved in the 1st XV loss, it was a difficult evening. I would like to say thank you to the hundreds of Frome RFC supporters who attended, and to apologise for our performance. Moreover, I apologise for my very evident frustration and for my choice of language at one point. That was not acceptable and it won’t happen again. As for the performance, I can’t make any promises, but I don’t think we’ll ever play that poorly again. Please come back to support the team again. They deserve your patience. Thank you.”
