Frome Town produced one of their best performances of the season as they won 6-1 at St Neots Town, a side one place above and sitting on equal points at the start of the day, but goals from Darren Jefferies, Joe Raynes, Chas Hemmings, Mitchell Page and a brace from substitute Ryan Bath sealed the win, with Dion Sembie-Ferris getting a late consolation for the hosts.
Frome were still struggling to pull a squad together for this match with Sam Teale, Kris Miller and George Miller all absent, but Kyle Phillips was sufficiently recovered from illness to start, and after the excellent draw against league leaders KIngs Lynn last Saturday, Ben Griffiths was again rewarded for his loyalty and patience as he started his second match in a row, this time playing at right back.
There was some debate during the week about how Frome would cope after losing top
scorer Jake Jackson to Chippenham, and after the same club had nipped in to sign Frome’s chosen replacement striker right at he last moment, it was unclear who would be scoring the goals. This match proved that sport is never predictable.
With the pitch looking more than a little wet at the start and with some areas of standing water, Frome were quickly into their stride as Darren Jefferies burst into the box in the 8th to score at the second attempt, and despite some pressure from St Neots, Frome’s defence never really looked in trouble. With Page winning most things in the air and ably supported on the flanks, there was always the chance of a second goal coming along.
This duly arrived in the 31st as Joe Raynes followed up a deflected Jon Davies shot to shoot home from close range, and this goal prompted a response from St Neots, but again the visitors were well up to the task and with Kyle Phillips only being called upon to make regulation saves, Frome were well worth their two-goal lead at half time.
With harsh words probably said at half time in the home dressing room, St Neots won a flurry of corners in the opening minutes of the second half, but Frome were easily soaking up the pressure and looking very dangerous on the break. As Page shot just wide from the edge of the box and a superb pass from Jefferies allowed Ollie Knight to round the keeper and just be denied by a last ditch tackle, another goal seemed on the cards.
Chas Hemmings made it 3-0 in the 52nd as he side footed home after a Davies free kick had only been partially cleared, and caused problems. Mitchell Page made it 4-0 in the 57th as he finished off a probing Ben Griffiths cross. Josh Jeffries could afford to make his substitutions, with Ryan Bath replacing Page in the 64th and George Holland making his debut for Frome as he replaced Joe Raynes in the 73rd.
Another pin point cross from Griffiths in the 75th allowed Knight to turn the ball back to Bath who hammered it into the net to make the score 5-0 and send the small contingent of travelling supporters into dream land. Despite St Neots huffing and puffing but failing to carve out any real chances, they eventually managed to get clean through in the 87th, only for Phillips to clear the ball up field where Bath out-muscled his defender to bang the ball into the roof of the net, make it 6-0 and really rub salt into the wound.
St Neots did get a consolation goal in the first minute of extra time as they broke clear, but nothing could dampen the spirits of the Frome players and supporters who had witnessed a small miracle against all the odds.
Darren Jefferies was awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match Award for an early goal and a performance that caused the home defence problems throughout the entire match.
Colin Carpenter
