Match Reports Season 2010 / 11 Saturday August 28th 2010 Ilfracombe Home FA Cup Sat 28th August 2010 FA Cup Preliminary Round Frome Town 1 Ilfracombe 0 Frome Scorers: Thomson (13) Crowd: 179 Entertainment Value: 3 Star Man: Jamie Cheeseman Frome Town had to work hard to overcome a spirited Ilfracombe side, and eventually ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a rare headed goal from Ben Thomson. On a perfect day and a perfect pitch, the first incident of note came in the 7th minute as the referee suffered a pulled hamstring and was unable to continue, leading to an appeal for any qualified referee in the crowd to assist. Luckily, Frome fan and ex goalkeeper Steve Cox was able to come forward, and after an eight minute delay the match was able to continue. Frome went close in the 10th minute as Evans chased a ball that the visitors keeper was shepherding out of play, cleanly won the ball and was able to roll the ball towards the open goal from a wide angle, but the defence had reacted first and the ball was cleared. Frome took the lead three minutes later as they broke from defence, and an excellent flowing move led to Lapham and Allison combining to set up Lake, who produced a perfect, measured left wing cross allowing Thomson to rise in the box and glance the ball cleanly into the far corner of the net.  As the game progressed, Ilfracombe were taking the game to Frome and playing a high defensive line, and Frome were always looking for the delicate lob to allow the pace of Allison and Evans to get in behind the defence, however the next chance came in the 34th minute as Lapham hit a cross from a deep position, allowing Evans to climb and produce a header that thumped against the Ilfracombe cross bar, eventually rebounding to safety. Evans again hit the woodwork seven minutes later as the impressive Thomson cut inside from the left wing and laid the ball into the striker's path, but this time the right foot shot from 15 yards cannoned off the base of the far post and was again safely cleared. Even though Frome were having the better chances, Ilfracombe were having a lot of the game and possession, and this pattern continued as the second half started. Ilfracombe's Parrish suffered a shoulder injury in the 53rd minute that resulted in an ambulance being called, and shortly after the re-start, Smith and Allison combined well to enable Allison to shoot just wide of the near post. As Ilfracombe chased the game, it turned into an end to end affair, with the visitors often playing a three man defence and confining Frome to their own half. It always seemed probable that the pacey Frome attack would make them suffer as they broke from defence, but a combination of offside flags and poor final balls meant that Ilfracombe rode their luck and were able to press for the majority of the second half, though with Chitty only having to make a real save in the home goal in the 80th minute, it shows how well the Frome defence were playing as the protected their goal. Break-away attacks by Frome in the 85th and 93rd minutes, mainly involving Ballinger should really have produced the second goal, but the first chance only led to a corner and the second led to Sibbick shooting wide of the near post. So Frome go through to the next round of the FA Cup, but Ilfracombe should be applauded for their endeavour and the way they constantly carried the game to Frome. Jamie Cheeseman was chosen as Frome's Man of the Match by representatives of Frome Town Youth Coaches who sponsored the game Frome Town Ilfracombe Officials Frome Town Youth Coaches Match Sponsor