Frome show guts in Sherborne win

Sherborne 1st XV 12 Frome 1st XV 16

Frome avenged their last-minute defeat at the hands of Sherborne earlier in the season with victory in a tense Southern Counties South contest.

Both sides started slowly, with neither making any clear openings until Sherborne took the lead inside ten minutes.

After giving away a penalty on their own five-metre line, Frome lost concentration while expecting the fly-half to kick for the posts. Instead the hosts took a quick penalty and crossed for a try.

The game sprung into action and Frome replied straight away. From a scrum just inside the hosts' half, the ball was fed to Mike Rutt, who broke his tackle and made some hard yards.

Rutt popped the ball to winger Arbury, who showed good pace before side-stepping the full-back to touch down. The conversion was missed.

The second half started with the visitors dominating possession and territory. They pressurised Sherborne and excellent tackling by Sheppard and Cook meant there were no easy yards for the home side.

Frome were finally rewarded for their efforts when McQueen darted down the touchline, showing good pace and strength. Then, just when it looked like he would be bundled into touch, he slipped the ball to Ames-Reddin to score in the corner.

The conversion was missed and the lead was short lived, with Sherborne scoring just after the restart when they created an overlap to touch down in the corner.

The conversion gave the home side a two-point lead but Frome did not panic and again played good rugby in difficult conditions to force two penalties.

McQueen converted both to put Frome back in the lead and they survived a nervous last few minutes to finish on top.

Frome 1st XV 18 Keynsham 1st XV 22

Frome were earlier knocked out of the Bath Combination Cup with a quarter-final defeat at home to Keynsham.

Two penalties and a try put Keynsham ahead before Frome managed to get on the scoreboard with a penalty try on the half-hour mark, converted by McQueen.

Keynsham were punished for collapsing several scrums, with the referee sending two players to the sin-bin.

With the visitors down to 13, Frome took their chance and scored again, with McQueen touching down in the corner.

Frome continued to dominate but became frustrated at their failure to add any more points and Keynsham scored two quick tries to effectively put the game out of reach.

McQueen converted a late penalty to bring the game to within a try but the all-important touchdown could not be found.

Fordingbridge 2nd XV 3 Frome 2nd XV 26

Bottom-of-the-table Fordingbridge proved a tough nut to crack for Frome 2nd XV, who were made to work hard for their win in Dorset & Wilts 2 South – despite what the scoreline may suggest.

Returning the visitors' kick-off, the Fordingbridge pack pushed forward immediately, only for Frome to steal possession. After a combination move between Osbourne, Westlake, Clarke and Trimby, the first try came inside ten minutes when Riley scored in the corner.

Fordingbridge then applied pressure but were thwarted by a stern Frome defence. After a series of penalties, King was penalised at the scrum and shown a yellow card.

The home side could not capitalise on the advantage, though, and missed a penalty before Frome scored their second try when winger Taylor and Osbourne combined down the left for lock Taylor to cross under the posts.

In reply, Fordingbridge again worked their way into the Frome half and were rewarded with a penalty to cut the gap to 12-3 at the break.

The second half continued in the same vein, with Frome drawn into a forwards game and having to defend against strong runs.

With a change of tempo and positional play, however, Frome opened up gaps and Osbourne scored to take them further ahead.

Bowles replaced Taylor with 30 minutes remaining and Frome started to dominate more, with the forwards bullying their way towards the tryline. Man of the match Benstead led from the front and James was ever-present at the ruck.

Both sides were reduced to 14 men when Regler and a home player were sin-binned but, with five minutes to go, Frome were awarded a scrum five meters out and Bowles crashed over the whitewash. King completed the scoring with the conversion.