Frome Town came from two goals down late on to earn a point against Bristol Manor Farm in front of a blockbuster 1028 crowd
George Rigg put The Robins ahead early on before Daniel Dodimead equalised just ten minutes later.
Owen Brain put The Farm ahead just after half time before Dodimead made it three 15 minutes later and it looked like Frome were set for their first league loss at home all season.
However late goals from James Ollis and Reece Rusher made sure that fortress Badgers Hill remained, and earned their side a point.
There was just one change to the side that drew away at Wimborne last week with Will Taylor replacing Matt Smith who dropped to the bench.
The Magpies loss at Tavistock on Tuesday restored a bit of hope for the Robins, who could have mathematically won the title today, had results gone their way, however it wasn’t to be.
There was plenty of excitement five minutes in however, when a direct free-kick from Rigg from 30 yards out went straight in to the top corner, sending the home fans into raptures.
Manor Farm did respond well to the early set back, and despite playing on Thursday showed plenty of energy and purpose and looked likely to get an equaliser.
That did come just ten minutes later, from a free-kick again, with the initial effort parried only as far as Dodimead who finished in to the roof of the net.
The Robins went close to restoring their lead 29 minutes in when a corner lead to a scramble in the box, with an eventual effort deflected on to the crossbar and into Sethan Locke’s hands.
The rest of the half was cagey to say the least, Manor Farm edged it in possession, but looked comfortable with a point as that would have been enough to secure them a play-off place.
The second half was more of the same, Frome were sloppy in possession being beat to the majority of second balls and would be punished three minutes into the half.
A dubious decision to award the away side an in-direct free-kick in the box for an alleged back pass, saw Brain capitalise, despite Frome bodies flying towards him after the lay-off, none of them could stop his rocket in to the top corner.
Danny Greaves then made a triple change 60 minutes in, Sam Heal, Sam Meakes and Rusher, replaced Zak Drew, Joe Budd and Taylor, adding threat down either wing, which would be pivotal later on in the game.
It did take a while for them to have an impact however and the Bristol based side would extend their lead 13 minutes later, when Dodimead curled an effort in from 25 yards out over the stranded Phillips.
Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the second half, Frome responded with a flurry in the last ten minutes, they thought they had a goal back in the 81st from a free-kick but were denied by the referees whistle.
Ollis then managed to pull a goal back six minutes later when Rusher’s cross wasn’t dealt with by Locke, with the ball falling to Ollis who finished well.
The equaliser then came three minutes later when Rusher turned from provider to goal-scorer, picking the ball up on the right hand side of the box, cutting in and sending a stunning strike off the bar and in to the top corner, restoring a point for Frome.
Regardless, a win wouldn’t have been enough for the title anyway, with Wimborne beating Melksham 3-1, meaning we’ll contest the play-offs.
We will face up against Mousehole, who’s 7-3 win today was enough to see them pip Larkhall to the final play-off place.
The match will take place at Badgers Hill on May 1st and we’d love to see another huge crowd to support the players in the final push this season.
Match report and live updates by Harrison Richards
Well, it wasn’t to be in any event as Wimborne clinched the title in front of 1,124 fans at Melksham’s lovely ground - I’ll bet that electronic scoreboard looked great to their 100’s of travelling fans. Ex Frome player Harry Baker scored another for them in a fine season for him and his club, who’s better consistency finally paid off – Congratulations to them, the four point divide proved too much to overcome as we drew four of our last 5 games dropping 8 points. In all honesty our performances too against: Melksham (a), Exmouth (a), Bishops Cleeve (h) & yesterday against ‘The Farmy Army’ were fortunate or disappointing. As I’ve said previously ‘The Wizards’ injury was a huge blow to…