Frome Town produced a spirited performance at table-topping Herford FC, but ultimately a 36th minute goal from John Mills led to a 1-0 win for the home side. Frome’s task was made more difficult in the last ten minutes after Darren Jefferies was shown a straight red card for something he unwisely said to the referee.
Hereford are one of those “phoenix” clubs who recently went into receivership due to finances, but were then revived debt-free and now play in their original stadium that has seen matches at much higher levels than the Southern Premier League, and famously the ground where they overcame Newcastle Utd in that famous FA Cup tie many years ago that “made” John Motson’s career in television.
On the night, the crowd of 1,685 was by far the highest crowd that Frome have played in front of for many a year, but it was actually Hereford’s lowest gate of the season, with the fans perhaps a little disgruntled after Hereford had suffered two defeats in a row, losing at home to King’s Lynn and then away to Basingstoke. Perhaps this would be Frome’s night, but Frome can only dream of having that level of home support and the financial benefits that it would bring.
Frome’s squad showed two changes from Saturday with Jon Davies returning to his favourite No.7 shirt and Chas Hemmings being unavailable. The match kicked off with Frome on the front foot and Davies causing problems with a cross that Jefferies just failed to finish, and another that saw Martin Horsell brought into action in the home goal.
As Hereford came into the match, Frome were having no real problems dealing with their efforts, and after 20 minutes the match was a pretty even affair, with Frome perhaps feeling that on another night they might perhaps have had a penalty awarded after a big shout in the 18th.
However, Hereford looked like they were moving up through the gears, but the Frome defence were coping well until the 37th when Kyle Phillips brought off a superb save at a free kick, but Mills followed up to put the ball into the net from close range to give Hereford the lead that they just about deserved.
However, Frome immediately carried on looking for the equaliser and with Kris Miller going down in the home penalty area and Davies shooting just wide from the edge of the area, there really wasn’t a lot in this match at half time.
The second half carried on where the first half had left off, with both sides looking to attack, but chances difficult to create. With the home fans starting to become disgruntled with their team, it was obvious that Frome were doing a decent job of matching them.
Frome went close in the 75th as Davies brought a full stretch save from Horsell after Jefferies had charged down a clearance,, but then Hereford had a spell where they brought several sharp saves from Phillips as they looked to seal the game, and then Frome’s task became harder in the 80th with Jefferies being shown the straight red.
In the 82nd, Davies went on one of his famous runs from inside his own half, leaving a trail of defenders in his wake, but he couldn’t quite get the ball on target at the end. Then Hereford started to take advantage of their extra man and effectively shut Frome out by keeping the ball and applying pressure to the Frome goal, with Phillips forced to make several good saves to keep the home side out and keep the score at 1-0.
Goalkeeper Kyle Phillips was awarded the H&B Tyres Man of the Match Award on a night when there were several other candidates, following a decent team performance which could well have ended with a point.
