Sat. 2nd March. Evo-Stik Southern Prem. Frome Town 0 Weymouth 2
Frome missed a couple of chances and Weymouth took both of theirs in this match, and that proved to be the difference between the two sides as 2nd placed Weymouth ran out 2-0 winners and 2nd from bottom Frome remain deeply in trouble at the foot of the table.
With Marcus Mapstone not having recovered from the injury sustained in last Saturday’s match, Frome were without one of their most consistent defenders in this match, but with new signing Troy Simpson starting on the left wing after signing from Bristol Manor Farm during the week, there was a hope that Frome might have some much-needed pace and width going forward.
The match started with both sides acclimatising to the conditions in the first few minutes, but Frome were obviously up for the challenge and had a huge opportunity to open the scoring in the 9th minute as Troy Simpson beat the offside trap on the left wing to cut in and pull back a perfect square ball that Brad Norris somehow managed to put just wide of the far post from five yards out. With two Kris Miller long throws causing consternation in the Weymouth defence soon after, Weymouth started to realise that the game was not going to be a walkover.
Frome continued to carve out half chances, with both Ryan Bath and Simpson getting in deflected shots that led to corners, and it took until the 27th minute for Weymouth to show as an attacking force, with Abdulai Baggie clipping a fierce shot across the face of the goal that nobody latched onto.
Bath again did well in the 31st to shrug off the attentions of Stepane Zubar and get a shot in that flew across the face of the goal, and with Alex Monks having a long range effort well saved by Tom McHale two minutes later, Frome were definitely having the better of things at this stage.
However, it’s goals that win matches, not chances, and fortune smiled on Weymouth in the 37th as they were awarded a controversial free kick just outside the Frome area and in a very central position. Despite Frome having a substantial wall in place, Brandon Goodship hammered the ball low and into the far corner to give the visitors a somewhat fortunate one-goal advantage at half time.
The second half was again an even, but fairly scrappy affair, with the Frome defence containing Ben Thomson and Brandon Goodship, and only occasional runs from the speedy Baggie seeming to cause any real problems. At the other end, both Norris and Simpson were finding space and causing the visitors occasional problems.
However, neither side created any real chances until the 81st as Simpson cut in from the right to pull the ball back to the sliding Norris who saw his shot just deflect for a corner. As the corner came in, substitute Johnny Gorman seemed surprised to get the ball and could only knee the ball into the safe hands of McHale from five yards.
Perhaps Weymouth felt that they were cutting the game too fine, as immediately, Goodship showed his worth as he outpaced Tom Mehew on the right to get to the deadball line and pull the ball back for Josh Wakefield to produce a superb curling shot from just outside the box that curled into the far top corner and gave Weymouth a two-goal cushion and ultimately the win, that they just about deserved on the day.
Brad Norris was awarded the Man of the Match award and the forward has done well in both his matches since transferring from Melksham.
