On paper, this always looked a difficult fixture and so it proved as Frome Town went down to a 2-0 defeat at “in-form” Redditch with goals from two home substitutes Jamie Spencer and Edwin Ahenkorah.
With Frome missing five first team regulars (Matt Smith, Rhys Baggridge, Jack Vallis, Ben Thomson and Kris Miller) due to injury or suspension and with centre forward Tom Golledge playing alongside debutant Aaron Oakley at the heart of the defence, this match against a Redditch side that had just won their last three matches was always going to be a difficult one to say the least.
The match started in a lively fashion with both teams looking to push forward and Frome’s Tom Golledge pushed forward in the 7th minute to unleash a goalbound 25 yarder that struck a defender and was cleared.
Redditch looked dangerous seven minutes later as Jermaine Hylton was set free on the right and as he set Jamie Molyneux free with a clever through ball, only a perfectly timed tackle by Brandon Mundy denied him a chance on goal. After Ricky Hulbert had just failed to reach a cross from Alex Rigley, Redditch again threatened as a freekick from Max Loveridge found the head of James Mutton but the header went well wide, and soon after Aaron Oakley was called into action with a great challenge to deny Hylton as the hosts began to turn the screw.
As half time approached, Redditch started to look really dangerous and a cross from Ashley Sammons was almost tapped in by Hylton, then Darren Chitty did really well to get down and save a free kick from Callum Flanagan that was heading into the bottom corner, however, Frome rode their luck and the score remained 0-0 at half time.
The second half saw the hosts continue to apply pressure and it finally told when a mistimed clearance allowed Redditch substitute Jamie Spencer to smash home a great 20 yard shot into the top corner to make the score 1-0 to Redditch.
Tom Golledge had another half chance for Frome as he reverted to his more normal centre forward role, but another defensive mistake wrapped the game up for Redditch as Edwin Ahenkorah latched onto an underhit back pass, rounded Chitty and tapped the ball into the net in the 89th minute.
Chitty was again called into action to deny Spencer a second from a low free kick, and that proved to be the last kick of the game.
Tom Golledge was awarded the H&B Tyres “Man of the Match Award”
Crowd: 258. Entertainment Value: 3
