Saturday 24th August 2013 Calor League Southern Premier Division Burnham 1 Frome Town 1
Town’s first goal and first away point of the season both came in this game as a 1-0 half time lead was cancelled out in the second half resulting in a 1-1 draw at newly promoted Burnham, with this being the first time the two clubs have ever met in competition.
In very wet conditions, Frome took a while to get going and were thankful to Darren Chitty for a very early sharp save to deny Ryan Blake. Ryan Laville then went close for Frome as he latched onto a speculative shot from Matt Cowler, turned well and brought a good save from Mike Watkins.
Frome took the lead in the 28th minute as a Gianni Kapika corner was cleared to the far wing, only for Luke Ballinger to pick up the ball and cross perfectly for defender Rhys Baggridge to head home at the far post.
The hosts pressed for the equaliser and after Chitty had denied Dobson, he produced a stunning save in the 38th minute to thwart Charles-Smith as he got his hands to a close range pile driver, turning the ball onto the top of the cross bar and out for a corner.
Josh Ford and Dean Flockton were working hard at the heart of the Robins defence to keep Burnham at bay, with the latter making an excellent last ditch tackle to deny Blake, however Burnham pulled the scores level on 52 minutes with a rather soft goal. An inter exchange down the right between Lewis Driver and Dobson ended with the latter putting in a rather innocuous looking cross which everyone missed apart from Ryan Blake who saw the ball hit his shins and cross the line.
Burnham dominated the closing stages, with more possession and territory, but the Frome defence dealt well with most of the attacks and Chitty was superb again as he dealt with anything that got through. Ballinger might just have nicked all three points in the 83rd minute as his 20 yard shot just shaved the outside of the far post and the whistle blew with honours even.
Darren Chitty was awarded the man of the match award, with central defender Dean Flockton again coming close to picking up the accolade.
Crowd: 114. Entertainment Value: 3
