Frome Town 0 Paulton Rovers 0 Crowd: 617 Man of the Match: Alex Lapham With this eagerly awaited local derby only getting the go ahead at 11:45 in the morning, Frome and Paulton produced  an entertaining 0-0 draw on a difficult pitch, with a missed Frome penalty in the 35th minute proving to be the turning point of the match. With Frome having the advantage of a win over Paulton in the Somerset Premier Cup Final back in May, and after Paulton's heroic FA Cup run in which the reached the first round proper of the FA Cup this year, this local derby had been long anticipated, and after an 11:45 pitch inspection, the match was given the go ahead and a bumper crowd was expected (with "ground hoppers" from the Isle of Wight making the journey to the ground.) Darren Perrin was able to field a full strength Frome side, with the only ommission being Luke Ballinger who was serving a one match ban, and he was looking to extend the team's fifteen match unbeaten run since he took charge of the squad. Paulton Rovers were without Rob Claridge and Kane Ingram who were both serving one match bans. In front of 617 supporters and with the pitch looking good in the afternoon sunshine, the match kicked off with Frome the first to show as Lapham did well on the right wing to fire in a low dangerous cross that was eventually cleared by the Paulton defence. As the match settled, Paulton started to show their class, and began to play a controlled passing game, much of it in the Frome area, utilising the pace of their wingers to cause problems down the flanks and generally having the better of the possession. However the Frome defence have only conceded one goal in the last seven games, and it took until the 16th minute for Frome's goalkeeper Tom Pass to have to make a save from a 25 yard low shot from Phil Walters after a Paulton corner. As Frome settled to their task, the game became much more even, and the midfields took control, with both sides finding it difficult to create telling chances. Lapham brought a save from Phillips in the 27th minute with a 25 yard shot, and Cheeseman went close with a header from a free kick in the 28th minute. Paulton's Rob Cousins brought a save from Pass in the 32nd minute with a long range curling shot, but the match was waiting for a flashpoint and it duly arrived in the 35th minute. Frome's Thomson did well on the left wing and managed to get in a low cross that evaded everyone in the box, eventually finding Allison who let fly with a goal bound shot from 15 yards that was blocked on the line by Walters, the ball going out for an apparent corner. The home crowd screamed for a penalty for hand ball, and the referee agreed, pointing the spot and producing a yellow card for Walters. After a wait of a couple of minutes and with another delay as Phillips came out to check that the ball was on the spot, Mark Salter took the penalty, only for Phillips to correctly guess the direction and make an easy save from a ball that was hit very close to him. After this disappointment, Frome probably had the better of the closing stages, with no real incidents other than Paulton's Cooper receiving a yellow card for a late challenge on Fullam that would come back to haunt him in the second half. At half time, the sun started to set and the temperature fell below freezing, but Frome started the better of the two sides and Lapham produced a telling cross in the 46th minute that caused problems, leading to an Allison shot a minute later that was well dealt with by Phillips. A tackle by Paulton's Cooper  on Allison in the 57th minute led to a stoppage for treatment and a talking to by the referee, but Coooper was again in trouble in the 61st minute as he seemed to challenge Reaney late and this time the referee had no hesitation in reaching for the yellow card, followed by a red card and Paulton were down to ten men.  The match then settled into a pattern of Frome attacking down the wings and looking to produce the perfect cross for Salter, and Paulton looking to play through the centre and pick up on any mistakes from Frome's impressive defence. Hulbert was causing problems on the increasingly hard right wing, but as he picked up an injury, he was substituted in the 69th minute by Hunt and Allison moved into the centre to play alongside Salter. This move very nearly led to the winner one minute later as Allison flicked a ball through with his head for Salter to finish with style, but the goal was ruled out by the linesman's flag in a close decision. Frome kept on pressing with the advantage of the extra man, but from this point on it always looked like being a 0-0 draw, and with the player's studs making more and more noise as the pitch became harder and harder, it was a credit to both sets of players, the spirit the match was played in and the judgement of the officials that the match was finished without incident. Club President and match sponsor Jeremy Alderman presented Alex Lapham with the Man of the Match award after another sterling performance in midfield, and the Star Raffle Prize of a meal for two in the Moon and Sixpence Restaurant in Bath was won by a supporter from Shrewton. The result now means that Frome are indefeated in 16 matches under Darren Perrin and have now conceded only one goal in the last 8 games. Frome Town Players Tom Pass Mike Reaney Greg Lake Craig Fullam J Cheeseman Matt Peters (75) Alex Lapham Sim Allison Mark Salter Ricky Hulbert (69) Ben Thomson Callum Henry Ashley Clarke (75) Dave Thompson Steve Hunt (69) Joe Gomes  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 Paulton  Players Kyle Phillips Phil Walters Charlie Rich Alex Ball Ollie Price Rob Cousins Joe White Chris Lane Matt Cooper Dan Cleverley Ben Lacey Dave Burborough Stuart Tovey Paul Milsom Lewis Collier C Redwood  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 P Brown B Abrams J Hooper   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) Club President and match sponsor Jeremy Alderman presents Alex Lapham with the MOM award Team captains and match officials before the match Laps in action