Frome RFC 15 - 26 Walcot  RFC 

Report by Trevor Osborne

Frome RFC returned home to The Lane this weekend as they welcomed Bath based side Walcot RFC.

The visitors kicked off proceedings in front a of a large home crowd, and with Frome securing the boy they quickly got into the phase play.

Good movement across the Backline and Forward pack in the opening minutes saw a ruck develop in the midfield, Player of the Match James Howard spotted a gap in the defence and sniped his way through a gap to sprint deep into the Walcot half, just before being tackled he was able to get the pass away to Scrum Half John Benstead who dived over to score under the posts for a Try, Conversion being added by Full Back Henry Bull. (7-0)

Frome didn't let up, and had a blistering start to the game, when a few minutes later struck again when a turnover saw the home side play the ball through the backline with a superb tip on from Centre Darrell Thompson to debutant Centre Max Stickley who raced over to score his first Try for the 1st XV in the corner. (12-0)

The visitors gradually found their way back in the game and got on the scoreboard through a well worked try quickly followed by a penalty. (12-10)

Frome looked dangerous with the ball in hand, but were unable to capitalise on possession with some missed opportunities and the teams turned around with Frome leading narrowly.

HT: Frome RFC 12 - 10 Walcot RFC

The second half continued to be hard fought and the visitors reduced the lead through another Penalty however Frome pushed deep into the Walcot half and responded with another Penalty through  Bull.

Walcot began to demonstrate why they finished second in the league last season,  and they had taken the lead through a couple of Penalties as the second half progressed. 

Another Try from close range completed the scoring and it was another difficult day at the office, but Frome continue to show glimpses of what they are capable and they will be determined to secure their first win when they travel away next week.

Player of the Match was awarded to Second Row James Howard.

FT: Frome RFC 15 - 26 Walcot RFC 

Head Coach Dom Jones commented "Saturdays defeat was hard to take, but a game ultimately we did not deserve to win and hopefully we will learn more from.

Our game is moving in the right direction, and there were moments where we put some excellent and fun rugby together, and there were definite signs of progress, but this was undone by our own errors and big moments. These moments allowed the opposition into the game... we started to rush things, lose our shape and allowed the noise to creep in. This then creates an environment where we move away from our fundamentals and game plan where we start to force things, and try to play without a platform as we're chasing the game.

We've put a challenge to the players and I'm excited to see how they respond during the week as we build to next weekends away fixture".

This weekend sees Frome head to Yeovil RFC, with the side desperate to secure their first win of the season.

Photos by Mark Sangster

Try scorers a John Benstead, Max Stickley, conversions by Henry Bull and Player of the Match James Howard.