Sat 3rd August Friendly Frome Town 0 Gosport Borough 5

A PRE-match thunderstorm produced a perfect, lush playing surface and an entertaining match on 3rd August.

But it was Gosport who produced the goods in front of goal, and five clinical strikes produced a score line that suggested much more domination than there actually was during the game.

Gosport were one of the better sides to visit Frome last season, and this match suggests that they have the class and finishing ability to do well in the Conference South after their promotion from the play off competition, while Frome are probably still looking for a striker with an eye for goal.

Defender Mark Cooper’s back denied Gosport the opener in the fifth minute, but they took the lead five minutes later as a mix up in defence allowed Tom Dunford to side foot the ball cleanly into the corner from 12 yards.

Frome then started playing some neat passing football, and after a Luke Ballinger free kick had just missed the top corner, a slick move on the right set Matt Smith up for a half chance, but the ball ballooned harmlessly over the bar from the edge of the area. Ballinger then went close with flick from a corner, but Gosport doubled their lead in the 33rd minute as a slide tackle from Rhys Baggridge led to a penalty, though those close enough to the action could see that he had in fact played the ball before the man.

Justin Bennett slotted the ball easily into the corner, and after Gosport had a goal disallowed for offside, the last kick of the first half saw a great Ballinger long range effort just miss the far post.

Frome started the second half well and had most of the territory and pressure, but then Gosport broke and Darren Chitty was forced to make a great double save on 58 minutes, but he was powerless to prevent Gosport adding a third in the 62nd minute as Lee Molyneaux poked the ball home from 12 yards following a right wing corner.

The goal of the game came a minute later as Andy Forbes curled a superb right foot shot round Chitty from the edge of the box, and although Frome continued to take the game to Gosport for the remainder of the match, they never really looked to have the fire power to trouble the scorer, and Gosport made it five with the final kick of the match, as a Gosport substitute produced a superb free kick that curled up and over the wall and buried itself in the top corner.

Frome Scorers: None. Gosport Scorers: Dunford (10), Bennett (33p), Molyneaux (62), Forbes (63), Sub (90). Crowd: 120. Star Man: Matt Smith. Entertainment Value: 4.

Sat 10th August, Friendly, Weston-Super-Mare 2 Frome Town 0

THE Robins lost their last pre-season friendly at Skrill South side Weston-super-Mare.

However, it was Frome who for the large part were the better side.  Frome fell behind to a controversial first half penalty which actually saw Josh Ford win the ball and then a poor back pass by the same player towards the end of the game gave Weston a simple second.

Frome missed several chances, not least Luke Ballinger who was guilty of a poor miss in the last minute when he was clean through on goal.

On the whole it was a good performance by the team and will give them plenty of confidence going into the opening league fixture.

Frome FC Supporters’ Club promotion –

The Supporters Club had a successful morning in the town centre of Frome on Saturday 10th August helping to promote the football club and the supporters’ club.

The stall was manned by volunteers and was well received by a large number of people.

Frome FC Supporters Club committee member, Gordon Perry, said of the idea, “We wanted to try and spread the word about the club and to get to those people that might not know much about us or have heard fully about the club.

“It was really successful and we managed to sign up several new members and handed out plenty of fliers that the football club produced about the upcoming matches.  Hopefully it works and it helps to increase our attendances.”

The supporters club and the football club would like to thank those who took time out to man the stall, as well as the Westway Precinct for allowing it to happen.

Further stalls will be held on Wednesday 14th August and Saturday 17th.