Frome Town played out a closely fought draw against title rivals Wimborne Town at New Cuthbury.
James Ollis opened the scoring in the 53rd minute from a corner, while the Robins were also undone with one up the other end, as Harry Morgan equalised in the 83rd minute, with the end result a fair outcome.
There were a few changes to the side that drew with Larkhall on Wednesday, experienced heads, George Rigg and Matt Smith came into the line-up whilst youngsters Sam Meakes and Tom Duffin dropped to the bench.
It was clear from the off that it was going to be a tight game, with no real clear cut chances in the first 15 minutes for either team, and with all the pressure on Wimborne, Frome were able to stick to their game plan with no real issues.
The first chance however did fall to the Magpies in the 17th minute when Matthew Neale cut in from the left hand side and fired a shot which was well blocked out for a corner by Pierce Mitchell.
Nothing eventful happened in the next 20 minutes, with neither team willing to show all their cards, Frome were awarded a corner in the 35th minute but that was comfortably dealt with by the home side’s defence.
Wimborne were then awarded a free-kick five minutes before the break in a shooting position, Morgan fired over the wall but also over the bar, capping off a mundane first half.
The Dorset based side did come out the blocks quickly in the second half as Morgan worked some space before firing a weak effort towards Kyle Phillips.
Oakley Hanger then tested Phillips in the 51st minute with an effort from 25 yards out, whilst Sam Griffen saw one deflect just wide a minute later, and despite all the pressure it would be Frome who took the lead.
Kane Simpson won a corner in the 58th minute and Rigg’s delivery was pin point, meeting Ollis who finished well to put the Robins one up and send the away sections in to raptures.
Morgan did put the ball in the back of the net for Wimborne in the 74th minute from a free-kick, but the linesman’s flag came to Frome’s rescue.
However he wouldn’t be kept off the scoresheet for long, as cups and bottles being thrown on the pitch from Wimborne fans, affected the concentration of Phillips, who spilt a routine pickup out for a corner.
These fans continued throwing items on the pitch, delaying the corner by a further two minutes, before it was finally dealt with, the corner was whipped towards the front post where an unsettled Frome defence were beat to the ball by Morgan who sent a header in to the top corner.
The rest of the game was an even battle, with Wimborne happy to not lose and Frome happy to spoil their title party in front of a fantastic 2,307 crowd.
The result keeps Wimborne top of the league by two points, also with a game in hand, we look to Tuesday’s result when they travel down to Devon to face Tavistock.
As for us, it’s Bristol Manor Farm for our last game of the season and we hope to see as many of you there as possible!
Match report and live updates by Harrison Richards
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Good luck in the play offs lads
After an excellent but ultimately frustrating draw at Wimborne we are now reliant on Tavi’ getting something from Tuesday night’s game to take things to the final game of the season.
Negatives - Only Paulton (relegated) and Bemerton have conceded more goals than Tavi’ this season! Positives - Tavi did keep a clean sheet at Bashley yesterday. They also played very well at Wimborne – losing late on 3-2.
Wimborne have blown their first chance of taking the title, so the pressure will mount, though they do have two more attempts starting at Tavi and then Melksham.
Of course we still have to beat Bristol MF, who are not yet guaranteed their play off place as Mousehole could yet join the party…