Hitchin Town 1 -2 Frome Town Sat. 5th Oct. – Calor Southern Premier League
Frome Town made it three league and cup wins on the bounce for caretaker manager Lloyd Chamberlain as they followed an impressive away win at Truro with an equally impressive 2-1 victory at Hitchin Town and move into a more comfortable mid table position.
The very first minute of the match could have seen Frome take the lead as a long throw from Ben Wood found Aaron Ledgister unmarked on the far post but his shot was straight at Tajhi Bell, and Matt Smith also shot straight at Bell shortly afterwards after Wood was again involved.
Darren Chitty pulled off an amazing save in the 11th minute as he leapt to his left to just palm away a Robbie Burns free kick, and as the match settled Hitchin tended to have more possession but looked a little suspect at the back when Frome launched counter attacks, and, from one of these just before the half hour, Wood again found space on the right and crossed for Ryan Laville to volley high over the bar. Hitchin survived a big shout for a penalty in the 34th as Wood was clattered from behind, only for the referee to bizarrely award a foul against the Frome centre forward, who was again involved just before half time as he latched onto a Rhys Baggridge cross, only to be denied by a brave block from a home defender.
The second half started as Bell completely missed a cross allowing Matt Smith to attempt a lob from just outside the area that dropped just over the bar, and with Frome looking more dangerous playing down the slope, they took the lead in bizarre fashion in the 65th minute as a completely mis-hit corner from Aaron Ledgister didn’t even get off the ground, but for reasons best known to himself, Bell jumped over the ball and it trickled into the back of the net. Wood and Bryan Smith both tested the home keeper with shots from range, but then Hitchin equalised in the 76th minute as another superb free kick from Robbie Burns this time gave Chitty no real chance to get to the ball.
As both sides went for the winning goal, two minutes before the end, Bell gave away a soft throw, Wood threw in another long one, everyone missed it and Frome’s right back and top scorer Rhys Baggridge volleyed home at the far post to ensure that all three points returned to Somerset.
The H&B Tyres Man of the Man Award was awarded to Ben Wood for another very impressive match and a huge amount of ground covered. Crowd: 300. Entertainment Value: 4.
