Friday 27th October. FA Trophy. Frome Town 1 Cribbs FC 0.
FROME Town progressed to the Second Round of the FA Trophy as they subdued a spirited Cribbs side by a single goal.
Injuries, penalties and a red card appeared to put their cup ambitions in jeopardy, but the BA11 side put an untidy performance behind them to win the tie after the visitors’ skipper Jacob Hodgson headed into his own net from a corner.
As Friday night football returned to Badgers Hill for the first time this season, the fixture threw up a repeat of August’s Southern League curtain-raiser. Danny Greaves kept faith with the side that went down in the wet at Bashley last weekend, only their third defeat this term, naming Reece Rusher in place of Ross Staley and selecting Pierce Mitchell ahead of Matt Wood.
With little to lose, Cribbs won countless corners and exhibited some nifty training ground moves from the set-piece but despite lacking fluency, Frome did manage to get a foothold in the game, Rusher’s cross dipping just the wrong side of the bar while Maidment ran amok to meet corners and cause havoc in the box. Cribbs were quick to break and the life was sucked out of Badgers Hill when James Ollis, on his hundredth appearance for the Robins, tracked back and twanged his hamstring in a crucial tackle. It was the cruellest of endings for the striker who looks to be out for at least a few weeks – a victim of his own selflessness and hard work in defence.
Cribbs will also rue their misfortune in front of goal. Not long before half-time, the visitors had the ball in the net, only the linesman’s flag for offside bailing the home side out after disarray in the box. The whistle could not come soon enough as Phillips produced a clever block to deny Corrick and keep his side level after a less than ideal first half.
The scoreless draw in the summer had been Cribbs’ first game in the Southern League and their form has come on leaps and bounds since. The Bristol-based side sit sixth in the table and, so far this season, are the only outfit to keep the Robins from scoring this season.
The set-piece scrutiny Frome had endured in the first half only got more probing in the second. Rhythm had completely deserted Frome when, minutes after the break, Ross Staley was adjudged to have handled a cross in the box. Badgers Hill has witnessed plenty of lucky moments but what ensued can only be described as freakish. Penalty-taker Ward-Baptiste pelted his effort into the bar before playing it again as he attempted to score the rebound. Confusion around the ground only turned to relief when the referee hesitantly awarded a free-kick and the red shirts realised they had got away with one.
It buoyed the home side, who began, cautiously, to recover a semblance of composure. A corner won with just over 20 minutes to play saw Hodgson head into own net and give Frome an unlikely lead, one as undeserved as it was fortuitous. But the tussle was to take another turn as Kane Simpson flew into a Cribbs player enthusiastically to retrieve possession and received a straight red card to the discontent of the 408 in attendance. Ten minutes to play, a lead to protect and an aerial blitz from the visitors who, knock as they might, failed to exploit their advantage before the referee called time.
Not pretty was the assessment from Danny Greaves, but it was a significant victory secured despite the potential stumbling blocks.
Frome Town will now face Worthing at home on Saturday 18th November.
Match report by Ryan Atkins and Zeb Baker-Smith
