Frome RFC welcomed Swanage & Wareham RFC were to 'the Lane' on Saturday in front of a large crowd of supporters and ex players who were attending the annual reunion dinner. The side were also joined by players from the U9's as they ran out.

The visitors came to Frome on the back of a huge win against Devizes RFC so the home side were expecting a hard battle.

Frome started strongly and after multiple penalties in the opening minutes the visitors lost a man to the Sin Bin.

Frome took advantage of the numerical advantage when Captain & Scrum Half John Benstead crashed over from close range for a try, which was duly converted by Fullback Darrell Thompson.

Frome continued to dominate with the Firwards carrying hard lead by Prop Elliott Bowler and Flanker Ryan Lech but stout defence by the Seasiders kept the home side at bay.

Swanage & Wareham then broke through the defence and despite some desperate defence with Michael Duppa-Miller putting some great hits in, they scored a try in the corner.

Frome lead 7-5 at half time but knew they needed to be at their best to secure the win going into the second half.

Frome started strongly in the second half and extended their lead when from a Scrum the backs ran a move straight from the training field to see Darrell Thompson burst through and then beat the Full Back to score a well crafted try.

Frome moved further ahead when, with a penalty advantage Man of the Match Simon Westlake slotted a drop goal.

Swanage & Wareham continued to threaten and gained some momentum and with five mins on the clock scored a converted try to bring the scores to 15-12 however Frome managed to secure the ball from a line out and see the last minute out to secure a hard fought win and retain second place.

Final Score: Frome RFC 15 - 12 Swanage & Wareham RFC.

Head Coach Toby Culff said: " I love playing against Swanage & Wareham. They understand the set piece, they carry hard, they compete at the breakdown, they tackle fiercely, and they moan like hell. Men after my own heart. Maybe they're not quite the force they used to be, but they're still a tough nut to crack, and we had to dig deep to win this one. We played with decent shape and good sense for the first 60 minutes, and we were relatively comfortable. When we lost our heads in the last 20 minutes, however, our shape went too, and the game turned into a scrap. It was nerve-wracking to watch but the win should give the team an important boost before a tricky away fixture next week at Swindon. It's a difficult challenge with which to end 2019 and the outcome will go a long way in determining what our 2020 will look like. It's a massive game and one we'll be up for. If the players perform with the same character and courage, but with a little more composure, we'll be in with a really good chance. And if Simon Westlake can stick over another game-winning drop goal, that'd be lovely!!".

The Frome RFC 1st XV sit in second spot of Wadworth 6X Southern Counties South, just three points off first-placed Grove RFC. On Saturday Frome RFC travel to fourth place Swindon RFC in the last game before the Christmas break.

1st XV team sheet:

1. G. Benstead 2. Storey 3. Bowler 4. Howard 5. Duppa-Miller 6. Lech 7. James 8. Hastie 9. J. Benstead (c) 10. Westlake 11. Sully 12. Rutt 13. Warnock 14. Spencer 15. D. Thompson 16. McPherson 17. Burge 18. C. Thompson