Frome Town 3   Weston-s-Mare 1 Minnis (32) Cheeseman (og) (45) Minnis (54) Ballinger (67pen) Crowd: 119 Man of the Match: Matt Minnis Holders Frome Town successfully defended their Somerset Premier Cup as they produced an excellent performance against Conference South side Weston super Mare, running out deserved 3-1 winners on a very wet night at the AlderSmith Stadium. With Matt Peters having aggravated an injury in the warm up and Greg Lake away, Darren Perrin moved Mike Reaney to right back, Craig Fullam to left back and paired Callum Henry with Jamie Cheeseman at the centre of the defence. Goalkeeper Dafyyd Jones is still struggling with injury, so Forest Green and England U18’s  goalkeeper Tom Pass started his second game for the club, having played in the defeat of Cirencester the pervious Wednesday. Luke Ballinger also returned to the side, and Iain Carr started in midfield with Joe Gomes watching due to injury. The match started at a lively pace, with both teams playing quick, passing football on the slick surface in the teeming rain, and Frome were first to show as Cheeseman rose in the 6th minute to meet a left wing corner, his looping header being easily dealt with by Sawyer in the visitors goal. One minute later and a good Thomson run on the left wing led to a Minnis header that Sawyer again dealt with, but Frome were lucky to stay level in the 12th minute as a Weston left wing corner was driven hard into the penalty area, evading everyone, then just taking a deflection off of Weston’s Gilroy before skimming past the far post. It was very even and turning into an excellent game, with both sides playing passing football and looking likely to score, but it was Frome that took the lead in the 32nd minute as a good run from Hulbert ended in a 25 yard shot that Sawyer was only ably to parry into the path of Minnis, who was able to react quickly and hit the ball downwards and into the goal, much to the delight of the home fans. As often happens, straight from the re-start, Weston attacked quickly and almost scored, only a brave block by Henry preventing the shot from finding its target. But Frome settled again and with Ballinger testing Sawyer twice from long range in the next few minutes, the match was becoming a finely balanced affair.    Weston equalised right on the stroke of half time, as a right wing attack ended in a cross hit hard towards the Frome near post, and a moments indecision resulted in the ball striking Cheeseman on the chest and deflecting into the far corner to give Weston an unusual, but probably just about deserved equaliser. The second half started in the same vein as the first, with end to end football. Weston had a 47nd minute 30 yard free kick that skidded past the post, then one minute later a flowing Frome move involving Minnis and Hulbert resulted in a corner, the ball eventually falling to Lapham who hit a 25 yard screamer that just cleared the far post. However, Frome took the lead again in the 54th minute as Fullam did well in midfield to win the ball, releasing the ball up the left wing to Thomson who produced some sublime trickery to deceive the defence, finishing with a pin point cross onto the head of the unmarked Minnis who headed home perfectly from 12 yards out. Once again, Frome looked vulnerable just after scoring, and Ballinger headed off his own line to deny Weston an equaliser following a corner, the Frome entered a purple patch where Ballinger, Minnis and Hulbert started to create mayhem with intelligent runs and passes that created several chances in a few minutes. The third of these, in the 67th minute, led to a goal, as Hulbert ran at the defence, then slipped the ball to Ballinger on the right wing, he made further ground and then produced a low, skidding cross to the near post where Minnis was the first to arrive. Sawyer did very well to save twice in quick succession, but as Minnis chased the ball as it squirmed past the post, he was brought down by a lunge from a desperate defender and the referee point to the penalty spot. Ballinger comprehensively scored from the spot and Frome went into a deserved 3-1 lead. At 3-1, Weston were forced to take the game to Frome, and for the remainder of the game, they were the team that was forcing the pace, but all of the Frome defence were outstanding on the night, and although Weston seemed to be getting the ball into the penalty area often, there was never any real feeling that they were going to score. They did go close in the 84th minute, however, but were denied by an excellent save from Pass as he got down well to save at the near post, picking up a hand injury in the proccess. Frome went close in the 86th minute as a perfect through ball from Reaney enabled Millard to make ground and pull the ball back to Ballinger who screamed a 30 yard shot past the post, and Salter brought a save from Sawyer a minute later, but there were no more scares, and despite the referee playing seven minutes of injury time, the match ended with Frome running out 3-1 winners over a full strength Weston side. An excellent result. Matt Minnis was chosen as the Man of the Match, and was presented with his award  by match sponsors AM Print and Copy. (AM stands for Andy Meaden who also edits and prints the programme each week.) Frome Town Players Tom Pass Mike Reaney Craig Fullam Callum Henry Jamie Cheeseman Iain Carr Alex Lapham (82) Luke Ballinger Matt Minnis (74) Ricky Hulbert (69) Ben Thomson Mark Salter (69) Simon Millard (74) Dave Thompson Ashley Clarke (82) James Rustell  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 Weston  Players Kevin Sawyer Mike Green Scott Bartlett Adie Harris Craig Rand Tom Evans Dayle Grubb Ben Cleverley Dave Gilroy Josh Klein Davie Jack Compton Darren Mullings Tom Parinello Ben Wells 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 M Pottage D McKellan A Jake Whalley   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) Luke Ballinger scores from the penalty spot Gavin Hares presents Matt Minnis with the Man of the Match award on behalf of AM Print and Copy who sponsored the match. “The Boss” shows he’s still got what it takes