Saturday March 9th 2013 Hitchin Home Saturday 9th March 2013 Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Frome Town 2 Hitchin Town 1 Frome Scorers: Gilbert (39og), Copp (51) Hitchin Scorers: Donnelly (11) Crowd: 263 Star Man: Darren Chitty Entertainment Value: 4 “It was a massive three points for us” said manager Darren Perrin as Frome Town survived a torrid first half hour, were grateful to their keeper Darren Chitty for keeping them in the match, and then pinched two goals to beat Hitchin 2-1 and climb four places away from the relegation zone. Frome started with all four of their recent signings in the lineup, including Salisbury loan signing Rhys Baggeridge at left back, and with the children from Frome’s  Kingfisher class cheering the side on the side on, the stage was set for a massive game that may well have an outcome on who stays in the Premier division this year. However, it didn’t really start the way Frome would have liked, and after an even first few minutes, Hitchin started to really turn the screw and looked a far better side than their league position would suggest. The fourth minute saw a Lewis Toomey header skim the base of a a post, Callum Donnelly let fly with a 20 yarder that thudded into Chitty’s chest and the pressure paid off in the 11^th minute as a crisp passing move carved through the Frome defence to allow Donnelly to coolly lob the ball over Chitty for the opening goal. A couple of minutes later, the league’s leading goal scorer John Frendo  was just denied a second as Chitty saved bravely at his feet, but Chitty’s  second save as Toomey swiveled and unleashed a screamer  from 18 yards was truly world class. The pressure was only relieved as Lawrie Stewart blazed over the bar and Frome could take stock of the situation. Having weathered the storm, Frome started to look better and Mitchell Bryant  several times managed to run onto through balls, rolling a ball across the area and bringing a save from Martin Bennett, and the equalizer arrived in the 39^th minute as a right wing corner was hit deep to the far post, Matt Smith crouched and headed the ball towards goal  only for the unlucky Dean Gilbert to head the ball into his own net. Frome finished the half the stronger of the two sides, and they carried that on in the second half as pressure saw them take the lead as a Rob Hobbs cross found Jordan Copp 10 yards from goal. His first touch saw the ball hit the ground and bounce up, but he reacted quickly and produced an amazing overhead kick that flew cleanly into the net. Despite the pressure, the third goal wouldn’t come, and Frome were again indebted to Darren Chitty as he produced a stunning save in the 73^rd to deny Toomey a headed goal and was again on hand a few minutes later as he pushed a Frendo shot around the post for a corner. As the Frome pressure subsided, Hitchin started to make all the running and the last quarter saw the home support nervously glancing at their watches as Hitchin always looked likely to equalize, but the defence held firm and the final whistle was greeted with rapturous applause from the home fans. The  “H&B Tyres Man of the Match” award was awarded to goalkeeper Darren Chitty by match sponsor and committe member Neil Clark ,and it could just be that his “wonder save” in the 15th minute might turn out to be a “season changing” event. Frome Town HItchin Town Officials M Rushton A Knight W Thomas Match Photos Photos of this match taken by our expert photographer Chas Hadfield can be viewed by clicking on this rectangle Match Sponsor Neil Clark Ball Sponsor AM Print & Copy Martin Bennett Sam Berry Josh Bickerstaff Lawrie Stewart Dean Gilbert Callum Donnelly Jack Beckett Louie Lee Lewis Toomey John Frendo Mike Noone Dan Delderfield Regan McGeorge Jake Woolley Dan Webb Carl Williams