Kings Langley 2-2 Frome Town – Evo-Stik Southern Premier, Sat. 20th August

After a poor first half which saw them trailing 2-1 at half time, Frome improved dramatically in the second half and after equalising through Jake Jackson they had several chances to win this match, but in the end shared the points.

After an even start with both sides struggling with the wet and windy conditions, Kings Langley started to look dangerous with Lewis Toomey just failing to convert a Sean Coughlan cross, but went ahead when Jack Waldren added to his debut goal four days earlier. Emmanuel Folarin and Gary Connolly combined on the right to cross to Waldren, who brought a good save out of Darren Chitty, but Waldren calmly netted the rebound.

Frome equalised six minutes later as skipper Dan Cleverley rose to head home from 10 yards a perfect, left wing  Jon Davies free kick, and chances were then even with Gary Connolly going just wide as he got to a  Waldren cross and, at the other end, Darren Jefferies went close with a header.

Kings Langley took the lead again in the 37th as Sean Coughlan made a direct, weaving run into the box and went to ground easily, and Lewis Toomey converted from the spot.

The hosts carried on looking the more dangerous as first Coughlan missed a Toomey cross by inches and a Dean Hitchcock free kick was held by Chitty as the hosts finished the half in control.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first as first Toomey fired past the post, Sean Coughlan went close as he fired past the post after a flowing move and, after Chitty had tipped a cross onto the post and Jorell Johnson headed over, it looked as if Frome might well be returning home pointless.

However, they are made of sterner stuff, weathered the storm and came back to dominate the last twenty minutes with the wind behind them. As the Kings Langley defence gave the ball away in the 70th, Mitchell Page broke clear and picked out Jake Jackson who converted from close range with his fourth goal in as many matches, though this time he had started the match rather than being brought on as substitute.

With Frome going for the winner, they were denied a big shout for a penalty,  Davies saw a 30 yard free kick just tipped over by Xavi Comas and Darren Jefferies had a big chance to win it towards  the end, only to be denied by another good low save from Comas.

The draw meant that Frome rose to third in the league with three wins, one defeat and one draw from their first five matches.

Jon Davies was awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match award. Crowd: 74. Entertainment Value: 3/5.

Colin Carpenter