Tue. 26th Dec. Evo-Stik Southern Premier Frome Town 2 Merthyr Town 3
An 86th minute Merthyr penalty proved to be the only thing that really separated these two sides as Frome had twice battled back well to parity at 2-2 with goals from Jordan Rogers and Ryan Bath, and on the day most home fans felt that the draw would have been a fair result.
The first chance arrived for Frome in the 8th minute as Ryan Bath battled well for the ball and as it broke free, Jordan Rogers toe poked a left foot shot just past the far post from just inside the Merthyr box.
After Sam Teale had just flicked a corner wide in the 11th, Merthyr took the lead in the 14th with their first real attempt. Tom Meecham found space and hit a first-time volley from outside the area that curled away from Carey and buried itself in the top far corner.
Merthyr went very close to doubling their lead in the 24th as centre half Kyle Patten rose above everyone to head a right wing cross just over the Frome bar.
Frome equalised slightly against the run of play in the 30th as Kris Miller attacked down the right and as his crossfield ball found Rogers in space just outside the box, the Frome target man controlled and swivelled all in one movement and then fired home a low right foot shot that flew past Lewis Webb into the far corner.
Frome now moved into a period of dominance, with Rogers looked dangerous every time he received the ball. He hammered a shot into the body of Webb in the 34th after Bath had done well to set him free, and in the 39th, he cut in from the left and hit a fierce right foot shot that Webb just managed to tip round for a corner.
Having said that, Frome were grateful for the skills of their own keeper right on the stroke of half time as Carey tipped over a fierce volley just after he had punched clear from a corner.
Rex Mannings had a chance early on in the second half as he broke through only to shoot high, but Frome were their own worst enemies a minute later as careless midfield play allowed Merthyr to win the ball and Ryan Prosser burst through unopposed on the right to shoot past Carey into the far corner to make it 2-1 to the visitors. However, Frome equalised in the 51st as Miller overlapped on the right and as his cross was deflected vertically upwards, Rogers watched it come down and played the ball to Mannings who somehow controlled the ball and played it to Bath who made no mistake from close in at the far post.
At 2-2, the game was finely balanced, and either side could frankly have won it at this stage, though injury forced Kris Miller off in the 62nd. Billy Fletcher moved to the centre, and Connor Roberts moved to right back, looking effective coming forward, especially when Tom Mayhew came on in the 71st.
But despite Frome mounting attacks on the right, they never managed to carve out a clear opportunity, and the game looked to be heading for a draw until the 85th when Rex Mannings fouled Ian Traylor as he drove into the box from the right, and the winger picked himself up to score easily from the spot and make it 3-2 to Merthyr.
Frome had a chance to equalise in the 2nd minute of injury time as Bath was fouled in the Merthyr half, but the Merthyr defence remained untroubled.
Frome’s man of the match was chosen as Jordan Rogers, and the striker’s work rate and “shoot on sight” attitude is endearing him to the Frome fans.
