Frome Town definitely deserved at least a point against third placed Corby Town, but after conceding a first half penalty then drawing level through Aaron Rodriguez, the late winner from Corby substitute Tommy Wright was a bitter pill to swallow.
Despite a weakened Frome midfield with Matt Smith and Jon Vance both being unavailable due to injury, the first half proved to be an even affair, with Corby probably just about having the edge in midfield, but Frome looking dangerous whenever they went forward.
Darren Chitty was a more than a bit fortunate in the 6th minute as his mis-hit clearance came straight back to him off a Corby forward, but as the match settled, his opposite number Paul Walker was called on to make the first significant save of the match as he dived low to his right to hold a Kris Miller free kick from 10 yards outside the Corby area.
As the half progressed, Chitty was called on to make several routine saves, but Frome went closest to breaking the deadlock in the 32nd as a powerful run from Ben Thomson took him past his marker to the dead ball line and his well struck shot towards the near post brought another good low save from Walker.
Corby took the lead a minute later as the ball was lost in midfield and a flowing move down the right wing ended with Chitty forced to dive at the feet of a Corby forward who went to ground easily, and after a moment’s hesitation, the referee decided that a penalty was the end result and Greg Mills shot low into the corner to give the visitors the lead. Frome seemed aggrieved by the decision and entered their best spell of the match, but they failed to make it count with the scoreline remaining 1-0 at the interval.
New signing Ben Worlock replaced Cameron Brown at half time and was to prove a great success as he brought some industry to the right wing position that Frome have been lacking for a few matches. Frome came hurtling out of the blocks at the start of the second half and after several attempts on goal, the move finished as Thomson shot over the bar, but then Chitty was called on to make a great save from Ben Milnes as he got his head to a right wing cross.
After another good Chitty save from Spencer Weir-Daley, Frome immediately broke on the right with Worlock and his fine cross field ball to Rodriguez allowed the winger to dance past Walker and stroke the ball into the unguarded net from 18 yards with a very accomplished finish. Corby’s Paul Malone picked up a yellow in the 58th for a tackle on Ricky Hulbert that saw the Frome player replaced by Dylan Bonella, and eight minutes later Frome went so close to taking the lead as Thomson rose to flick the ball on, Rodriguez pushed the ball to Lewis Haldane, who got his shot in despite the arms of Edi Appleton being all round him, only to watch in despair as the ball hit the outside of the post.
Haldane again profited from a Thomson flick on a few minutes later, but this time his left foot shot flew across the face of the goal and several Frome free kicks promised an end result only to fail at the final touch. Frome did get the ball into the net in the 81st as Haldane again seized onto a Thomson header, but this time a linesman’s flag ruled the goal out and you started to get the feeling that it was going to be ‘one of those days’. That feeling was proved to be true just after Rodriguez had been substituted in the 84th due to injury and as the game was re-started, Frome seemed to momentarily lose concentration, Corby flooded forward down the right and as a desperate tackle went in, Corby substitute Tommy Wright finished clinically with a shot into the far corner for the winner which the Corby side celebrated with a fair amount of relief.
When you’re at the bottom, luck goes against you and that was certainly true in this game, which Frome really did deserve to get something from, especially given the quality of their performance in the second half.
