Wednesday 1st October
Southern League South
Frome Town 3-2 Bristol Manor Farm
Frome Town secured another huge three points under the lights at Badgers Hill in a goal fest as they won by three goals to two against local rivals Bristol Manor Farm.
The Robins quickly put their disappointment from the weekend in the FA Cup behind them, as just before 20 minutes, they scored two goals in as many minutes. The first one was created by good link up with George Dowling and Sam Meakes down the right. It was the latter who delivered the cross in towards Archie Ferris who headed it brilliantly past Owen Crawford in the Manor Farm goal.
And the 396 people who were at Badgers Hill did not have to wait long for the second. David Duru capitalised on a loose ball inside the penalty area before smashing home his effort into the bottom corner, not much that Crawford could do about that one as Danny Greaves’ team found themselves two goals to the good in the early stages.
But the visitors were not going to just roll over as the Farmy Army showed a lot of fight and character throughout the 45 minutes. And the first warning sign came after 23 minutes when Kyle Phillips produced a fine save to deny Thomas Blake’s thunderous effort. Abdoulie Tunkara got on the end of the rebound but thankfully for the Robins his effort was poor and was blazed high over the bar.
Three minutes later, the away side halved the deficit when Weston-Super-Mare loanee Brandon Bak went racing through one-on-one with Phillips and the young striker showed great composure to finish into the bottom right corner. Will Justin’s side had a way back into this game.
Bak had another chance to score his second and equalise just before the interval after doing great work up against the Frome defender down the left. Again, Phillips showed all his experience and stood firm in the Dodge goal, making another good save to send his side into the break leading by two goals to one.
Not long after the restart the equaliser was scored with Manor Farm’s skipper, Elliot Nicholson hitting a sweet volley from the edge of the area.
There were notable opportunities at both ends throughout the rest of the 90 minutes with two big chances falling to Frome, one from Duru who came within inches of grabbing his second goal but was denied by the bar and the other falling to man of the match George Dowling near the end.
Probably the best chance for the Farmy Army to win it fell to Bradley Selwood just after the hour mark. He won possession back high up the pitch before unleashing an effort from the left side of the box that flashed over the crossbar.
The winner came right at the end, and it was another set piece that Bristol Manor Farm failed to deal with as Dowling picked up the ball on the edge of the area, weaved his way past a couple blue shirts before striking his effort past Crawford into the bottom corner. The goal sparking wild celebrations amongst the home faithful as the Robins secured all three points in the 89th minute!
A real gutsy performance on a cold Wednesday night by Frome and they were rewarded right at the end with another three points! This also set a record for the Dodge as this is the first time they have ever won their first five league games of the season.
