Sat 26 Oct 2019
The Frome RFC 2nd XV welcomed Mintey RFC 1st XV to ‘The Lane’ on a cold raining windy Saturday afternoon.
From the kick off the visitors were quickest to adapt to those conditions and got themselves into the Frome RFC 22 and were able to bully their way over the line for an early score. The conversion being added.
A score behind, the Frome players managed to put valuable phases together but were finding it hard to find that final pass or knocking due to the poor weather conditions.
Frome continued to dominate with the Forwards linking well and worked Well to get themselves in the visitors half, with some some great strong running from Hooker Phil Clarke, No.8 Cameron Hastie and Inside Centre Chris Burgess.
Scrum Half Harry Burge continued to keep the tempo of the game high, along with a good defence it wasn’t long before the home side were back on the scoresheet.
On the 35 minute, despite some good defence from Minety, Frome RFC Prop Jason Baraclough crashed through and touched down for the try. Fly Half Ben Eley adding the conversion.
With the weather worsening as the second half kicked off Frome continued to showcase why they were sitting top of the league, the Homeside pack dominating in the scrums with the pack winning several scrums against the head.
Replacement Front Row Dom Granville came on for Christophe Giruad, and it want long before the hard work paid off with Man of the Match Phil Clarke scoring. Eley adding the extras.
From the kick off things didn't go Frome’s way as talisman Cameron Hastie received a yellow card for an infringement at the break down in Frome’s twenty two. With Frome down to fourteen men Minety’s sprits were now up and had the momentum, scoring their 2nd try.
Matt Warnock made a welcome return from injury coming on for Kyle Williamson and Liam Sheldon came on for Harry Burge at Scrum Half.
Sheldon brought a welcome spark to the game, and after several well positioned kicks from the Scrum Half gave Frome the forward momentum they needed.
Frome looked close to scoring after some superb work by the forwards, but a knock close to the line saw the try go missing.
But with the resulting scrum Frome proved to much and the Minety pack was pushed off the ball and Flanker James Milton reacted the quickest to touch down. Eley converted.
Frome Managed to keep control for the remainder of the game, and with Minety losing players to injury and the conditions worsening, Frome gained a Penalty which was duly converted by Eley before the final whistle. Full credit must go to both sets of players who continued to play some good rugby despite the testing conditions.
Final Score:
Frome RFC II 24 - 12 Minety RFC
The Man of the Match award, sponsored by the Old Bath Arms, Frome went to Hooker Phil Clarke.
The Frome RFC 2nd XV remain unbeaten in Dorset & Wilts 1 North and sit top of the league. With a gap in league fixtures the 2nd XV will be back in action on Saturday 9th when they travel to Royal Wootton Bassett RFC 2nd XV.
