Frome Town 3-2 Sholing

Scorers : Peck 13, Simpson 22. Mannings 58  /  Conor Whiteley 16, Dan Mason 45+2

Date: Saturday 16 October 2021, 3pm – Southern League South Division One

Venue:  Badgers Hill

Frome Town: James Carey, Martin Lenihan © (Rex Mannings 45mins), Joseph O’Loughlin, Matthew Smith, Marcus Mapstone, Jonathan Davies, George Rigg, Kane Simpson, James Ollis, Alex Hallett, Christopher Peck.  Unused subs : Warren Maidment, Jack Witcombe, Lucas Schwalbe-Goodwin & Alex Monks

Yellow Card:

Sholing: Ryan Gosney, Ryan Cluett, Marvin McLean (Yumo Wan 51mins), Robin Nicholls, Dan Miller (Joe Adams 43 mins), Jack Mann, Claudio Herbert, Byron Mason ©, Dan Mason, Conor Whiteley, Jake Cope (Martin Buckland 70 mins)  Unused subs : Mackenzie Hare, Jake Hoole

Yellow Card : Claudio Herbert

Referee:  Timothy Burley  Assistants: Steven Brenchley & George Lynch

Attendance: 415

On paper an exciting game looked likely, and it didn’t fail the bumper crowd of 415 who were treated to four goals in the opening 45 minutes. It was Frome Town who continued their unbeaten start to their campaign when substitute Mannings scored the decisive goal on the hour mark.

Once again injuries and suspensions hit the Boatmen’s squad which meant 5 players under the age of 20 were included in the line up and 16 year old Mackenzie Hare replaced suspended Luke Deacon as backup goalkeeper. Injuries to Stuart Green, Brad Targett & Mitchell Byrne meant another changed starting 11 for the umpteenth time this season.

Both sides started brightly, and the game is end to end the first chance of the game fell to Jake Cope who fires his shot wide of James Carey’s goal on 6 minutes.

Frome Town got the ball wide down the right wing and Jack Mann failed to make the tackle and the cross along the ground eluded everyone in the Sholing area and Chris Peck on the far post put the Robins in the lead on 13 minutes. Sholing’s response was immediate when CONOR WHITELEY beat three players and buried his shot into the corner of James Carey’s net.

The match continued in the same vein end to end chances for both sides, but it was once again the Robin’s who took command of the game with James Ollis running at the Sholing defence unleashed a shot which was only parried by Ryan Gosney into the path of Kane Simpson.

Sholing continue to look for an equalizer and again it is Jake Cope who sees his shot saved by James Carey. A clash of heads sees Ryan Cluett leave the field of play for around two minutes but eventually returns despite feeling sick. Then more injury woes continue when Dan Miller is replaced after lengthy treatment with an ankle injury by Joe Adams, Robin Nicholls drops back into the defence alongside Byron Mason. With the match in 1st half stoppage time Joe Adams beats two defenders and shoots, again Carey gets down to it but DAN MASON is on hand to equalize for the Boatman.  HT 2-2

At the start of the 2nd half Frome Town replace their captain Martin Lenihan with Rex Mannings. The 2nd half tempo continued as the 1st 45 minutes did. Frome Town created the first chance, but James Ollis shot over the bar from Kane Simpson’s cross. A minute later this time it was Dan Mason who saw his goal bound header saved by Carey from Claudio Herbert’s freekick. The injuries continue to pile up for the Boatmen when Marvin McLean has to be replaced by Yumo Wan.

James Ollis fails to reach Joe O’Loughlin cross with the Sholing goal at his mercy. Then once again it is Sholing on the front foot with Dan Mason holding up the ball turning and unleashing a shot just past the upright.

Then on 57 minutes the Robin’s take the lead when Jonathan Davies shot is deflected away but falls into the path of substitute Rex Mannings who beats Ryan Gosney at his near post. Sholing’s frustration continued when Claudio Herbert receives a yellow card for arguing with officials.

Frome Town stepped up their pace of the game and continued pressing the Sholing defence. James Ollis gets into the Sholing area turns Yumo Wan and the young defender concedes the penalty bringing down Ollis. George Rigg steps up for the penalty and plants his spot kick on to the base of Ryan Gosney’s upright and out. James Ollis is now dominating the midfield for the Robins and with twenty minutes remaining Dave Diaper replaces Jake Cope with Martin Buckland.

Ryan Gosney again had to be at his best to palm away a Kane Simpson effort. Once again, this spurred Sholing on to look for an equaliser but Frome Town well organised defensively squashed the Sholing attack and they were themselves dangerous on the counterattack looking for a fourth goal to seal the three points. As the match got close to stoppage time James Ollis thought he had added the fourth goal, only for referee Burley to rule out the goal after his assistant had pulled play back for a foul by Jonathan Davies in the build-up. FT 3-2

A disappointing result, but Sholing remain in 2nd place in the league after a tough run of fixtures. With no match for 7 days, hopefully player’s injuries will recover fully and we will be able to field a full strength team shortly.

Report by Greg Dickson

Next Game :  Sholing v Paulton Rovers - Southern League - Saturday 3pm