Monday  August  27th  2012 Chippenham Town Home Monday 27th August 2012 Evo-Stik Southern Premier League Frome Town 2 Chippenham Town 0 Frome Scorers: Smith (12), Lapham (69) Chippenham Scores: None Crowd: 429 Star Man: Matt Smith Entertainment Value: 4 A few days is a long time in football, and Darren Perrin must have purred with satisfaction as  he watched his Frome side cruise to a comfortable 2-0 win over Chippenham Town, eventually gaining victory against their local rivals at the fourth attempt since Frome were promoted to the Southern League. After the defeat at St Albans two days earlier, Tom Evans returned from injury, Lewis Powell and Alex Lapham both started the match, Greg Tindle came in for his debut game at left back and Sam Allison started his first match of the season, with Aaron Ledgister moving from left back to left wing. Chippenham included three Frome “old boys” in their side with Toby Osman and  Luke Ballinger starting and Dean Griffiths coming on halfway through the first half. On a perfect pitch, the match started with Frome going closest as a 25 yard free kick from Lewis Powell curled round the wall and thudded against the outside of the post with Josh Dempsey struggling to get anywhere near it.  An Alex Lapham free kick a minute later saw a Tom Evans header go just past the post. Frome took the lead in the 12th minute as a shrewd through ball from Sam Allison found Matt Smith running through the middle, and the young midfielder showed great skill to curl the ball round Dempsey and into the far corner of the net, from a position well outside the Chippenham penalty area. Chippenham’s first chance arrived in the 23rd minute as a right wing corner was flicked on, allowing Alan Griffin to shoot from close to the far post, but he got well under the ball and skied it over the bar. Frome almost doubled their lead in the 27th minute as a corner led to a goalmouth scramble and Dempsey only just managed to stretch a leg out and poke the ball away for a corner. Frome went close a couple of times with headers from through balls, but they were tahnkful to Darren Chitty in the 41st minute as he produced an amazing save to push a Chippenham free kick round the corner. The second half started with heavy rain and Chippenham making most of the running, with Frome content to hold their ground and defend their lead, which they did to great effect, and very nearly increased their lead in the 58th minute as Lapham and Smith combined well to set Allison loose on the right wing, and his almost perfect cross was so close to being volleyed home by Powell but a couple of inches spoiled the chance. Chitty did well in the 68th minute to save a close range header following a Chippenham corner, but then set up a Frome attack that saw Nat Auckland make ground on the right wing and produce a perfect cross that found Lapham on the far side of the penalty area. The midfielder controlled the ball with one touch, turned inside and stroked the ball into the far corner of the net to give him his first league goal in a long while, and what a gem it was. With Matt Smith having to leave the field following a blow to the head, the crowd expected Chippenham to raise the tempo and really go for it, as they had done in the last league meeting between the two sides, but although they had plenty of possession, they never really threatened and Frome looked the team most likely to score in the closing stages, with Auckland dropping back into midfield leaving Claudio Herbert and Lewis Powell to run at the Chippenham defence. Auckland brought a good save from Dempsey as he caught a Ledgister cross with a left foot volley in the 68th minute, and Herbert proved himself a handful with his pace, but no more real chances presented themselves and Frome were worthy winners on the day. The “H&B Tyres Man of the Match” as chosen by match sponsors Frome Town FC Supporters Club was Matt Smith, who had an excellent game  for Frome and scored the opening goal.     Frome Town Chippenham Town Josh Dempsey Toby Osman Shaun Lamb Ashley Williams Steve Casey Alex Kite Luke Ballinger Scott Rogers Alan Griffin Brandon Barnes Lee Phillips Dave Gilroy Dean Griffiths Tom Seery Josh Egan Iain Harvey Officials A Newell P Staynings S Tobin Match Photos Photos of this match taken by our expert photographer Chas Hadfield can be viewed by clicking on this rectangle Match Sponsor FTFC Supporters Club Ball Sponsor FDC Law