Saturday 1st December
Counties 1 Southern South
Frome RFC 24 – 8 Swanage & Wareham
Frome RFC welcomed Swanage & Wareham RFC to The Lane on Saturday and, with the visitors sitting at the top of Counties 1 Southern South, Frome knew they would have a touch encounter ahead of them.
Frome started strongly and attacked deep into Swans half right from the kick-off.
The first scrum set the tone, with the home side dominating and with the Swans pack unable to cope, Frome were awarded a penalty. Taking a quick tap penalty and going through a string of phases, the backline released centre Cory Plumridge to bulldoze his way over for an early try, the conversion being added by full-back, Max Stickley.
Frome defended for the next 10 minutes as Swans attacked the Frome line with vigour. Stout defence kept them from crossing the line and they had to make do with three points due to an infringement at the ruck.
Strong ball carries by prop Oli Andrews, hooker Murray White and matchday skipper Alex Mallon piled the pressure on. The reward for the continued pressure came when Swans defence finally broke and second row James Howard powered over to extend the lead.
Frome almost extended their lead soon after when winger Harrie Webster, Max Stickley and centre Sam Cassidy combined to feed winger Archie Coleman who was held up just short of the line.
The Swans hit back with an unconverted try before the break and the half finished 12-8 to the home side.
The second half was a to and fro encounter with Swanage & Wareham trying to gain a foothold but resolute defence by the likes of flankers Josh Hills and Dave Martin, strong ball carries by Cory Plumridge, Sam Cassidy and Oli Andrews kept Swans away from the Frome try line for a large portion of the half.
A bit of individual brilliance from Harrie Webster saw him gather the ball on halfway, chipped ahead and outpaced the cover defence to regather his own kick and score in the corner.
Frome weren’t finished yet, more powerful runs from Cory Plumridge and Murray White, a fresh set of legs in the shape of Phil Clarke and Billy James added some zip to the attack when he replaced scrum half John Benstead due to an injury.
An infringement at the ruck by Flanker Kayden Henley earned him a yellow card but even with 14 men, Frome took the attack to Swanage & Wareham and after some fantastic play and handling in the backs, Archie Coleman supplied Harrie Webster with the perfect pass to put him in space to again show the defence his heels as he went in for his second. Try converted making the score 24-8, a bonus point win, leaving the visitors with nothing for their efforts.
Frome worked hard for this win against the league leaders who were looking to stay top which is going to be difficult in this tightly contested league.
Player of the Match went to Oli Andrews for his powerful ball carries and his scrum dominance.
Report: Matt Warnock
Photos by Katie White.
