Report by Matt Warnock

The Frome RFC 1st XV welcomed local Wiltshire rivals, Trowbridge RFC to The Lane on Saturday. 

Prior to kick off, the players and supporters paid tribute to former Frome RFC Club Member, Sara Love Charlton who sadly passed away during the week.

The opening minutes saw a good exchange between two sides, Frome were able to gain some ground following a break from Centre Ali Frost making ground.

Trowbridge were quickly back in the game and won a Penalty at the Scrum, Trowbridge's kicked to the corner for the line out 5m out, but the home side did well and saw Matt Smith winning the contest in the air.

The ball to came down to Scrum Half John Benstead who pushed the ball onto Fly Half Simon Westlake, the pass being shipped wide to Winger Henry Bull. 

With Frome securing a penalty, the home side kicked to corner, a well worked play from the Forwards saw Prop George Benstead offload to Bailey Brook who was held up over line.

15mins in Frome's Scrum set the platform for Frost to crash up, and a quick play saw the ball go blind and Hooker Matt King showed some great footwork and strength to score in the corner, unfortunately the conversion attempt by James Howard went just wide of the uprights. (5-0)

The restart didn't go well as Frome knocked on, Trowbridge looked threatening with ball in hand as they moved wide. Frome were penalised for going off their feet at the breakdown and Trowbridge kicked to the content for the lineout.

The visiting Forwards sent wave after wave of drives towards the Frome line but were held up, with Winger Eliki Bainimoli making the try saving tackle.

The Frome drop out fell to the opposition Fly Half who put a chip to the corner, but Full Back Bailey Rusz dotted down to make it safe. 

Trowbridge's Scrum, 5m out saw the visitors drive forward, Flanker Sam Bartlett was deemed to have interfered and was shown a yellow card. The Scrum reset saw Trowbridge push over to score in the corner, the conversion going wide. (5-5) 

The restart saw Trowbridge attack again but a forward pass from the Fly Half saw a Frome Scrum. No.8 Alex Mallon picked from the back of the Scrum and gained valuable yards, but during the duck was deemed to have held on and Trowbridge relieve the pressure.

The remaining minutes of the half saw both teams attack with plenty of good play from both sides, but it was the visitors who would be on the scoreboard next..

With a Trowbridge line out the ball moved wide, a good cover tackle by Cory Plumridge saw play stop, but the ball was brought back for Frome players being offside, and with the FlyHalf opting for posts, he duly spotted the 3pts. (5-8)

HT: Frome RFC 5 - 8 Trowbridge RFC 

The opening minutes of the second half saw Trowbridge attack from deep, and with the home side conceding multiple penalties, the visitors quickly got into the Frome 22.

Shortly after, another penalty saw Trowbridge extend their lead by a further 3pts. (5-11)

The home side made changes with Stevan Randall coming on for Bailey Brook in the Forward Pack.

The restart couldn't have gone any better for Frome, with Winger Henry Bull catching the ball on the full and broke through only to be brought down 10m out from the try line.

With the pack bulldozing there way forwards, Captain Mallon made strong yards with the ball being moved to Hooker King who dropped a delicate chip over the top for Full Back Rusz, who latched onto and dived over for the try. The conversion falling just short. (10-11)

Momentum was now in Frome's favour and shortly after the restart a break by Bartlett, saw a a superb offload to Prop Geoff Taylor who made 20m before being halted by the covering tacklers. Another kick through from Fly Half Westlake was collected by the visitors Winger, but the chasing Frome players tackled well carrying the player into touch.

A spell of 5mins saw both sides buying for territory with each of the Scrum Halves box kicking on multiple occasions.

Frome we're awarded a scrum just outside the the Trowbridge 22, a set play from the backline saw the ball hit up in the middle, from the breakdown James Howard dropped an inside pass to Taylor who broke through and offloaded out of the tackle to Matt Smith who scored under the posts, shrugging off several tacklers. Howard adding the extras. (17-11)

Unfortunately Smith was injured during his try and left the field with Harry Bridle coming on as replacement.

A Trowbridge Penalty saw the visitors get back into the Frome 22. Several phases later Frome won the scrum and were able to clear down field by Scrum Half Benstead. 

Frome were showing some great play and won the lineout, and were awarded a penalty shortly after as Bridle was tackled high.

Trowbridge had another opportunity to attack but another big tackle by Plumridge saw Frome turnover the ball and work the ball blind, a break from Rusz and Bull saw the pair make there way down field before a high tackle on Bull gave Frome another shot at posts. Which was duly kicked by Howard (20-11)

Frome were awarded a penalty and had the lineout 5m out, a catch and drive was pulled down by Trowbridge 7 which saw him receive a yellow card. A change in the front row saw Dan Chaventre enter the field for Taylor. 

The resulting lineout saw Frome charge forward and Flanker Bartlett smashed through to score, Howard adding the extras. (27-11)

Frome would win a penalty shortly after and kick to touch. Mallon makes a break into the opposition half but the ball is knocked on. 

Trowbridge hammered the Frome line in the final moments of the game, but some stern defence and superb tackling saw the final minutes play out before a forced pass wide by Trowbridge saw the ball go into touch and the final whistle blown. 

FT: Frome RFC 27 - 11 Trowbridge RFC 

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

The win sees Frome move up to 7th position in Regional 2 Severn, and face 8th place Cheltenham RFC this Saturday.