An excellent away performance from Frome Town saw them bring back a share of the points with a battling 2-2 draw at second placed Hitchin Town, who were looking to record their eighth successive victory.
Frome made one change to their starting line up with James Fitzgibbon starting at number 11 after several good recent performances after coming on as substitute, and Ollie Knight stepped down to the subs bench.
On a spring-like day, on a good pitch and in front of a 570 crowd, Frome were the first to show as Jon Davies shot into the arms of Mike Johnson, but Hitchin then immediately broke back but the danger disappeared as the ball went out for a goal kick.
Davies again brought a good save from Johnson with a free kick in the 10th as he scrambled to push the ball out for a corner, but Hitchin again broke and a dangerous low cross was pushed away by Kyle Phillips for a corner, and Frome were a little lucky shortly after as Matt Lench struck the ball wide after being set up by Callum Donnelly.
After Mike Bryant had set up George Miller for a shot that was easily claimed, Hitchin had a couple of corners in quick succession, with Phillips now starting to become the busier of the two keepers.
After a 3 versus 2 break that Phillips did well to deal with, Hitchin went very close indeed in the 32nd as Kane Smith went on a storming run only to see his shot hammer against the Frome crossbar.
As half time approached Frome were under increasing pressure from Hitchin, but they then took the lead in the 45th as a Fitzgibbon run took him past two defenders; he pulled the ball back to Davies who then set up substitute Darren Jefferies to drive the ball home from the edge of the area (Jefferies had been on the pitch for five minutes after replacing the injured Mike Bryant.)
With Phillips saving a snapshot from Robbie Burns just after the restart, the score remained 1-0 to the visitors at half time, though there were doubtless more goals to come in the second half.
Hitchin came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half and equalised in the 50th as a cross from Smith caused chaos in the Frome defence and Brett Donnelly stabbed the ball home from close range.
After George Miller had brought a save from Johnson, Donnelly and Burns combined to set up a shooting chance for Matt Lench that went just wide and Phillips was on hand to deny Lench shortly after when he saved well, and then the Frome keeper again did well to deny Burns as he was clean through on goal.
Although Frome were riding their luck a bit at this stage, somewhat against the run of play, they took the lead in the 66th as a Davies free kick was swung in and Jake Jackson turned and shot cleanly home from the edge of the six yard box to make it 2-1 to Frome.
However, the lead was only to last 4 minutes and a Hitchin cross to the far post just evaded Phillips and Hitchin captain Dan Webb stooped to head home at the far post and make the score 2-2 with twenty minutes to go.
Despite Hitchin having the better of the last twenty minutes, they failed to open up the Frome defence and, with Jon Davies bringing a save from Johnson right at the end, the visitors could even have just pinched all three points.
Goalkeeper Kyle Phillips was awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match Award and his saves during the periods of Hitchin dominance definitely contributed hugely to the excellent draw.
Frome Scorers: Jefferies (45), Jackson (66). Hitchin Scorers: B. Donnelly (50), Webb (70). Crowd: 517. Entertainment Value: 4/5.
