Frome Town 3   AFC Hayes 1 Lapham (4) Vicente (31) Thompson (64) Ballinger (80) Crowd: 205 Man of the Match: Jamie Cheeseman Sharp finishing and solid defending enabled Frome Town to run out 3-1 victors over a useful AFC Hayes side that controlled the mdifield for long periods, but seemed unable to convert possession into goals. Darren Perrin started the game with Caig Fullam returning  to partner Jamie Cheeseman in the centre of defence, new signing Ben Thompson playing wide on the left of midfield, and Luke Ballinger partnering Matt Minnis as twin strikers. On a perfect pitch after the overnight rain, Frome had the best of possible starts in the 4th minute as a quickly taken throw in on the right wing found Lapham running into space, and his pace allowed him to side step a tackle and shoot clinically into the far corner of the goal, with the ball just clipping the inside of the base of the post. The match then quickly settled into the pattern that was going to last the entire match, with Hayes having plenty of possession in midfield, but Frome defending well and always looking very dangerous on the break. The 17th minute saw the first Hayes chance as a left wing cross was met at the far post, but the header went well wide, and Frome broke impressively in the 20th minute as a crossfield ball from Thompson freed Ballinger and the striker's pace allowed him to shoot low from 20 yards bringing a save from Leech in the visitor's goal.  One minute later and Frome again went close as a looping right wing cross from Peters found Ballinger on the far post, but his downward header was directed straight at Leech. With Hayes struggling to create any chances from open play, they equalised in the 31st minute with a bizarre goal as the Frome keeper Jones slipped while taking a goal kick, the ball flew low and hard at the surprised Fullam, who managed to get a foot to it but only succeeded in playing the ball into the path of Vicente who managed to round the keeper and squeeze the ball home from a very tight angle into the unguarded Frome net.   The 33rd minute saw an accidental collision between Minnis and Beckles on the half way line, the officials waved play on and Ballinger played a crossfield ball into the path of Thompson who took one touch and unleashed a left foot shot that just flew past the far post. After 41 minutes a (newly developed) long throw from Lake again caused trouble in the Hayes defence and Allison produced a perfect cross from the right wing that found the head of Ballinger bringing an excellent save from Leech as he tipped the ball over the bar. The second half started in much the same way of the first, but Hayes missed a golden opportunity in the 53rd minute as a free kick was punched away well by Jones, but the ball was delivered back into the box immediately only for the unmarked Vicente to head well wide of the post from 10 yards out. Hayes had the bit between their teeth now and were controlling the midfield, but Frome always looked dangerous, and a Ballinger snapshot in the 55th minute brought a sharp save from Leech at the near post, and a good 1-2 between Allison and Minnis led to an Allison shot that was blocked. At the other end,  the Frome defence had to be on their toes to deal with a succession of Hayes free kicks and corners that were all delivered with pace and swerve, and Jones especially showed good control of his area to deal with the threats, several times punching dangerous balls clear when under severe pressure. A little against the run of play, Frome took the lead in the 64th minute as a long ball up the left wing was headed on into the path of Thompson, and the tall midfielder showed excellent composure on his debut to cut inside his marker and strike a right foot shot from 20 yards that curled around Leech into the far corner of the AFC Hayes net. Hayes came straight back and once again the Frome defence showed how well they are knitting together as a unit,  repelling every attack and producing balls that enabled  the forwards to break with pace.  Mark Salter replaced Matt Minnis in the 71st minute, and 5 minutes later the striker went close with a header from a Lake throw. Another Lake long throw led to Frome taking a 3-1 lead in the 80th minute as a Hayes defender completely missed his header, allowing the ball to run to Ballinger who swivelled and hit a low right foot shot from the edge of the penalty area which clipped the inside of the base of the far post before going in. With Salter and Hulbert combining well to set up a Hulbert chance in the 89th minute, Frome finished the stronger and proved that the team are now starting to gel into a unit that can defend a lead and cause teams problems by attacking with pace. It's looking good. Jamie Cheeseman was presented with the Man of the Match award by Graham Barnes who had sponsored the match. Frome Town Players Dafyyd Jones Matt Peters (c) Greg Lake Craig Fullam Jamie Cheeseman Iain Carr (79) Alex Lapham Sim Allison Matt Minnis (71) Luke Ballinger (82 Ben Thompson Mark Salter (71) Joe Gomes (79) Ricky Hulbert (82) Steve Hunt Mike Kilgour  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 AFC Hayes  Players Jarret Leech Lee Holland Lee Gritt Dave Taylor Vince Rispoli Wes Beckles Ross Crawford Ben Hayden Denilson Vicente Darren Butler Craig Tompkins Adamson Ajayi Vincent Anozie Howard Hall Nick Walters Nathan Munroe  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 Frome Town Management Darren Perrin Derek Graham Mike Clarke Shaun Baker Mike Kilgour   M A P K C Match Officials C Wade M Bloor G Parsons   R A A Zamaretto League Match Reports Abingdon (H) AFC Totton (A) Mangotsfield Utd (A) Thatcham Town (H) VTFC (A) North Leigh (H) Andover (A) Bracknell (A) AFC Hayes (H) Bridgwater (A) Cirencester (H) Andover (H) Bishops Cleeve (H) Windsor & Eton (A) Uxbridge (A) Yate Town (H) Hungerford Town (A) Cinderford Town (H) Gosport Borough (A) Bedfont Green (A) Paulton Rovers (H) AFC Hayes (A) Bracknell Town (H) Uxbridge (H) Cirencester (A) Taunton Town (A) Bridgwater (H) Windsor&Eton (H) Abingdon (A) AFC Totton (H) North Leigh (A) Thatcham Town (A) VTFC (H) Mangotsfield (H) Bedfont Green (H) Bishops Cleeve (A) Paulton Rovers (A) Cinderford (A) Hungerford Town (H) Taunton Town (H) Yate Town (A) Gosport Borough (H) FA Cup  Hamworthy (A) FA Trophy Chippenham (A) Red Insure Cup Clevedon Town (A) Som Prem Cup Weston s Mare (H) Bridgwater (H) Dafyyd Jones receiving the Apricot Engraving Player of the Month award for September Jamie Cheeseman receiving the Man of the Match award, chosen by Graham Barnes who sponsored the match Mascot Tom Franks with the team captains and match officials. (Tom is also the the grandson of Graham Barnes who sponsored the match.)