Sat 11th March. Southern League Division One South Willand Rovers 2 – 2 Frome Town
FROME Town battled to an arduous draw at Willand Rovers.
On a sodden pitch amid spells of rain and chilling fog, the Robins took the lead through an Alex Monks effort from outside the box. A goal either side of half-time for Douglas Camilo and Jack Rice spelt trouble for the travel-shy Robins, but an outlandish moment in injury time saw defender Pierce Mitchell score a first goal for the club and take a point for Frome.
The footballing gods were against Frome when they suffered an undeserved defeat at the hands of Bashley. The Robins arrived in Devon requiring a change of narrative and a win against relegation-threatened Willand. The unavailability of a concussed James Ollis, so often the protagonist at the attacking end of the pitch for Frome this season, was a severe blow, the casualty list now consisting of seven players. Despite these absences, Frome were in desperate need of their shooting boots, having been held goalless in their last three games.
The attacking trio of Jono Davies, Reece Rusher and Owen Humphries began positively enough though, the latter’s pinpoint free kick locating an unmarked Sam Teale in space at the back post. The ball got clamped between the captain’s boots and a sodden pitch to roll harmlessly away into the WIlland keeper’s gloves.
Frome were dominant in the first half an hour and Willand were struggling to cope, inviting pressure, and breaking up attacks with fouls for mere respite. From an innocuous position just inside the half, Davies was pulled down and a free kick was awarded. Instead of looping the ball into the area, the midfield exchanged a couple of passes before a sudden effort from distance by Alex Monks flew unexpectedly over the keeper and gave the visitors the lead.
Frome showed naivety when ahead and were saved on two occasions by goalscorer Monks who marshalled the front post well from the corners. Far from shrinking away from the challenge, Willand showed some genuine attacking ambition at last.
Despite being winless in the league since Christmas Eve, Willand started the second half demonstrating the same desire and energy that had seen them level before the break. By contrast, Frome looked lethargic, their sluggish defending exacerbated by the spongy conditions of the pitch when a clearance from the corner failed to be dealt with. Ash Hewitt’s shot bobbled between the swarm of bodies in the box and Jack Rice ended up sneaking in the lead from close quarters.
Any notion of Frome having had the rub-of-the-green this season is an entirely ridiculous one. Last-gasp goals and cruel finishes have dogged Danny Greaves’ side game after game. Since that August evening when Willand sneaked a late equaliser at Badgers Hill, the BA11 fans have had plenty of opportunity to curse their luck.
But today, it turned out to be the home side who had to face the ignominy of injury-time drama going against them as Monks retrieved the ball from a defence penned in by white shirts and threaded it to Rusher who found the unlikely striker, Pierce Mitchell. His defender’s instinct was better than to panic and shoot at the sight of a shambolic defensive line and a goalkeeper inexplicably out of the box. Unflustered, the new recruit drove forward and improved his angle before sending his shot skidding into the net. Aside from being a supremely bizarre conclusion, it proved to be just reward for an unflinching show of grit from Danny Greaves’s squad ahead of another busy week of Southern League action, away against Wimborne in midweek ,and at home to Sholing next weekend.
Match report and live updates by Zeb Baker-Smith.
