Saturday 10th January
Winchester 1-3 Frome Town
Frome took a big step towards the league title on Saturday with a 3-1 win in Hampshire over title chasers Winchester City. This result sees the Dodge go five points clear at the top of the table.
It didn’t take long for there to be chances in this encounter. Seven minutes in, Bradley Waters was played through brilliantly for Winchester but he scuffled his shot wide of the post.
Just two minutes later, the Robins would take an early lead. A free kick from the right-hand side was pinballing around in the penalty area until Archie Ferris showed great composure to stab home the opener in front of the travelling Dodge faithful.
The Citizens did not take long to respond however and in the 13th minute they scored an equalise with an almost identical goal. A set piece was delivered to the back post where Dan Walster headed it back across goal, for Thomas Bragg to notch home with a header into the bottom right corner, past Kyle Phillips in goal.
Just a few minutes later, Ferris could have easily had his second as his header only narrowly looped up and over the bar.
Then, on 34 minutes, Waters played an excellent through ball towards Dan Bradshaw who looked to be through on goal for the hosts. That was when Sam Teale produced a brilliant goal-saving challenge to prevent his side from going behind after a relatively bright first half for the Dodge.
And things would only get better for Frome on the stroke of half-time. A corner was delivered into the box and Winchester failed to learn from their mistakes for the opening goal as they just couldn’t clear their lines. Up stepped Ferris again at the back post with a real poacher’s finish to give his side a massive boost going into the break.
After the break, Danny Greaves’ side had the momentum with them, as the home side really struggled to contain Frome to create any chances.
Three minutes after the restart, George Dowling went for another spectacular strike to add to his catalogue so far this campaign and after creating a piece of magic away at Bishops Cleeve. This time, though, his effort agonisingly rebounded off the post.
That didn’t matter all too much however, as just two minutes later on 50 minutes, the game looked to be all but sealed. A ball into the box from the left for Frome, and Winch failed to clear their lines as a sliced clearance was cleared only as far as Ferris who headed home for his hat-trick, the perfect afternoon for the number nine.
The Robins were in the mood for more as well; just on the hour mark Zac Drew tried a nice lobbed attempt on goal but his strike came off the bar and back into play.
Overall, a very professional performance by Frome, who came to a side who had not lost at home in the league up until this point and nullified them to few chances throughout the 90 minutes, earning a huge three points.
Next up for Frome Town, it is the much-anticipated derby match against Westbury United at Badgers Hill on Wednesday night, 14th January.
Reports by Harry Minton
