FROME’S first visit to Royston Town ended in disappointment as the home side scored in the first half through John Frendo, who then added another at the start of the second half, and the match was sealed in the 74th as Scott Bridges added a third, in what was a fairly comprehensive 3-0 victory.
Frome had Sam Teale back from injury in this match and replaced the “ever present until now” Ben Withey at left back, with Withey taking his place on the bench. Both Marcus Mapstone and Mitchell Page were also available, though Page took his place on the bench instead of the starting line up.
After a slow start, Frome had the first shot of the match after three minutes, though it cleared the crossbar with ease. Then Royston had their first sniff of goal as a Lee Chappell cross was headed over by Sam Corcoran in the 7th, and as the match progressed, the hosts were starting to move into the driving seat.
The veteran striker John Frendo tried his luck with a speculative lob in the 12th and five minutes later as Adam Murray challenged Kyle Phillips, the ball looped up to Bridges who then proceeded to head the ball over the bar.
With the pressure building, the inevitable first goal arrived in the 22nd as Adam Marriott’s effort was well stopped by Phillips, but Frendo was on hand to bury the rebound high and hard into the roof of the net to give the hosts a deserved 1-0 lead.
Frome were really struggling to put any meaningful moves together in the first half, and with both Ed Asafu-Adjaye and Marriott having shots blocked and several incisive moves thwarted by the offside flag and the other chances going begging, Frome were doing well to be just a single goal behind at the break.
The second half started with a catastrophe as Frendo closed Phillips down to the extent that his clearance off the ground hit the striker on the back and looped up and over the stranded Phillips and into the net, to make it 2-0 to Royston and give Frome a huge mountain to climb.
Royston again went close in the 61st as Adam Murray’s low header after a free kick went wide. Then Murray himself floated a volley just over soon after and despite Chas Hemmings heading a corner just over for Frome in the 70th, the visitors were struggling to carve out any clear cut chances.
Royston nearly increased their lead a minute later as substitute Josh Oyinsan burst through, only to toe poke the ball into the side netting. Just after, Darren Jefferies had almost found Page with a cracking low cross, but Royston sealed the game with their third goal as James Potton burst forward and crossed. Frome failed to clear and Scott Bridges was on hand to hammer a low shot into the corner from just outside the box.
Frome did try to get a consolation goal in the remaining minutes, but an effort from Page was well saved by Joe Welch and with a couple more shots being blocked, the hosts were well worth their 3-0 victory in the final analysis.
Midfielder Darren Jefferies picked up his second H&B Tyres Man of the Match Award in five days for another useful performance on the wing. Crowd: 316. Entertainment Value: 3/5
