Taunton Town 0
Frome Town 3
Ballinger (11)
Minnis (69)
Salter (74)
Crowd:126
Man of the Match: Tom Pass
Frome Town returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 victory margin over
Taunton Town in a match that was notable for numerous missed chances at either
end.
On a cold February night and on a pitch that made ball control very difficult, Darren
Perrin gave a debut start to new signing Ben Osman in midfield, and also included
Greg Lake at left back for what may be his last game for the Club depending on the
outcome of the approach from Gloucester City for the services of the talented
defender.
Frome started kicking up the slope and applied early pressure to the home defence,
as Ballinger broke through in the 7th minute bringing a save from Jones, and Salter
also broke clean through the defence one minute later, but his first touch bobbled on
the pitch and Jones was able to save at his feet.
Frome took the lead in the 11th minute as Thomson accelerated into the box from the
left wing, producing a shot that Jones was only able to parry, the ball running along
the goal line where Ballinger slid in to force the ball over the line from very close
range.
At this stage, it was all Frome pressure, but Taunton went close in the 16th minute
with their first attack that ended in a shot into the side netting from Veal, and this
seemed to lift them as the game became an end to end affair, with Taunton having
several shooting chances from open play and very dangerous long throws, but in all
cases the forwards were unable to hit the target and the shots either went wide or
way over the Frome bar.
Frome always looked dangerous in attack with Ballinger attracting the attentions of
three defenders whenever he ran at the defence, but the final ball or the final shot
was never quite good enough, and the score remained 1-0 to Frome at half time.
The second half started in much the same way as the first half had finished, with
neither side able to really master the conditions and numerous off target shots at
either end. Jones was becoming the busier of the two keepers as Frome started to
make use of the slope and he was called into action in the 55th and 58th minute
making good saves from Ballinger and Salter. Perrott missed a golden chance in the
59th minute as he got on the end of an excellent Thomson free kick, but his header
flew across the face of the goal just missing the far post.
Salter threw himself at an excellent Ballinger cross in the 62nd minute, but his header
from 10 yards just skimmed the crossbar, and the travelling support began to wonder
if the ball was ever going to go into the net. Two Osman free kicks in quick
succession seemed to find Cheeseman and Perrott unmarked on the far post, but
both times the ball just seemed to evade them.
With Darren Perrin becoming increasingly exasperated in the technical area, he
replaced Ricky Hulbert with Matt Minnis in the 68th minute and the change had an
immediate effect as Minnis immediately slammed home a low Ballinger right wing
cross with his first touch of the ball, some 30 seconds after coming on.
Minnis was involved in the Frome's 3rd goal in the 74th minute, as he beat the
offside trap, controlled the ball and played Thomson into space on the left wing, his
low cross being met by Salter who poked the ball home from ten yards to effectively
seal the game.
With rumours of a member of the Taunton management team having packed up and
left 20 minutes before the end, circulating round the ground, the night was summed
up for Taunton in the 91st minute as a 25 yard free kick was hit a good 20 yards over
the bar, leaving the Club with a massive hill to climb to stay in the Southern League
this year.
A strange game, often reminiscent of a Western League match, Frome always looked
more dangerous, but if Taunton had a striker who could hit the target it might have
been a very different result. As it was, Frome's goalkeeper Tom Pass was chosen as
Man of the Match, even though the side won 3-0 .... it really was a strange game.
Frome Town
Players
Tom Pass
Mike Reaney
Greg Lake
Callum Henry (77)
J Cheeseman
Ben Osman (77)
Mike Perrott
Luke Ballinger
Mark Salter
Ricky Hulbert (68)
Ben Thomson
Matt Peters
Matt Minnis (68)
D Thompson (77)
Ashley Clarke (77)
Mike Clark
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
14
15
16
17
Taunton
Players
Russell Jones
Alexis Piper
Dave Anthony
Danny Lane
Dan Short
James Clough
Andy Butler
John Harris
Craig Veal
Rodney Marsh
Darren Rice.
Luke Cole
Raiff Gwinnett
Shaun Anthony
x
x
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
x
x
x
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)
