On a balmy summer’s evening at Meadow Lane, Frome continued their pre-season preparations with a fine 1-0 win over neighbours Westbury United
In what was an absorbing contest, both sides cancelled each other out in the first half, but there were still opportunities to open the scoring
Matt Smith created the first chance after 5 minutes when he won possession just outside the Westbury box and put an intelligent pass out to the left in the path of Reece Rusher whose shot flashed across the goal
Westbury’s Charlie Walton had his side’s first chance nine minutes in when his effort ballooned off Kyle Phillips and over the bar
Albie Hopkins looked comfortable on the ball and along with James Ollis made life difficult for the Westbury defence, creating a number of chances that with a bit of good fortune may have broken the deadlock earlier.
It was in the 36th minute that the deadlock was broken when Hopkins found some space on the edge of the box and fired home his first goal in Frome’s colours
For the second half Zak Drew replaced Albie Hopkins from the start, and Danny Greaves made further changes to the side to give the squad valuable minutes in preparation for the new season. Will Taylor, Joe Budd and Marcus Day joined the fray replacing Jayden Nielsen, Alex Monks and George Rigg, but the changes did not affect the rhythm and control of the game
What was notable was that the entire squad put on a good shift, with the defence dealing well with any attack, limiting the Westbury attack to only a couple of clear chances in the second half. New signing Matt Goulding had an assured performance and Matt Wood dealt particularly well with the physicality of Charlie Walton.
On reflection perhaps Frome Town may feel that with some better fortune the scoreline may have been more convincing, but credit must go to the Westbury defence who defended really well, including a clearance off the line from a Matt Wood header!
All in all it was a very absorbing encounter, providing the management with valuable opportunities to test out different formations to meet the challenges that Southern League Premier football provides
Match report and live updates provided by David Parry
Now the fixture list is out, don't miss the chance to take advantage of our Season Tickets which you can secure on the FanBase app and (link below) alongside admission to our pre-season friendlies at home against Bath City on Tuesday and Swansea City U21s the following Saturday!
Another good crowd for a friendly – about 250 witnessed another narrow derby victory for the Robins on a beautiful evening in Wiltshire. Excellent beer choice at the bar , 6x on draught,
( Pease note Simon) ) and food very good too.. Another excellent workout and the players all look very fit I have to say.
Nice little ground and a new wooden 100 capacity stand behind the goal. Minor grouch - The main stand has very restricted views to both nearside corner flags and could do with a couple more higher rows at the back but I guess that they know this. . Other than that – All Good and as always a really nice bunch of supporters.…