Saturday 13th November, FA Trophy AFC Totton 2 Frome Town 2 (Totton win 4-2 on pens)
FROME bowed out of the FA Trophy after a defeat on penalties to AFC Totton on Saturday in a game that saw them reduced to nine men in normal time.
A late Jon Davies goal set the depleted Robins up for a potentially heroic shoot-out victory but four well-taken penalties from the home side earned them the win.
Despite a controlled opening 10 minutes from Frome, the shape of the game altered drastically in the 11th minute. Goalkeeper James Carey was shown a straight red card after he was adjudged to have brought down Totton forward Hisham Kasimu outside of his penalty area.
Manager Danny Greaves was forced to don the gloves and take his place between the sticks for the remainder of the game.
A chaotic period of play then ensued, and the ten-man Robins even managed to take the lead when Marcus Mapstone powerfully headed home a Jon Davies corner.
The lead lasted only a matter of minutes though as Totton winger Sam Griffin beat two defenders before slotting beyond Greaves in goal.
Even though they were a man light, Frome were by no means the inferior side, still managing to have long spells of possession and threaten the Totton goal.
It was the home side who found the next goal though, with Jack Hoey making the most of the extra space afforded to him to curl home a fabulous effort from the edge of the box.
Kane Simpson saw a decent effort well saved by Amadeusz Skrzyniarz before the half was up, but it was some resolute Robins’ defending that ensured there was plenty to play for in the second period.
After surviving a couple of early scares in the second half, Frome pushed for a way back into the game, and were helped when Totton captain Harry Medway was shown a second yellow card just before the hour mark.
Simpson passed up a golden chance to equalise when he could only shoot at Skrzyniarz from close-range, and before they knew it the Robins were down to nine men.
After being booked for a foul in the aftermath of Carey’s sending off, Mapstone was shown a second yellow when he brought down Kasimu with just over 20 minutes of the game remaining.
However, the nine men held on under immense pressure from Totton and found a way back into the game with just 10 minutes left as Davies slotted home from close-range after being played in by Simpson.
One final save from Greaves before full-time took the game to penalties, but Davies and George Rigg failed to score from the spot and Hoey slotted home the final kick to decide the tie.
