Sat 9 Apr 2022
Frome RFC 24 - 17 Newbury RFC
Match Report by Trevor Osborne
Frome RFC welcomed 4th placed Newbury RFC to Gypsy Lane on Saturday.
The game started with the home side playing up the slight slope and the Newbury Blues were immediately putting pressure on the Frome line however stout defence held them out for the first 24 mins.
A Scrum on the Frome line released Full Back Bailey Rusz up the left touchline, supported by Winger Finn McNulty made 80 metres. Frome were then awarded a penalty and from the resultant line out set up a rolling maul marshalled by Hooker John Benstead who touched down for the first points of the day.
Frome continued to battle up the hill with some great tackling lead by JJ Gagiano leading the defence, and the front row of Geoff Taylor John Benstead and Elliott Bowler starting to get on top in the scrums.
However the pressure finally told when the visitors 10 found a gap with Frome down to 14 men and off loaded to the supporting player for a converted try for a 7-5 lead at half time.
HT: Frome RFC 5 - 7 Newbury RFC
Frome started strongly in the second half with the forwards, lead by Captain Alex Mallon and Flanker Will Button, carrying hard and releasing the backline marshalled by Dom Jones.
However Newbury increased their lead when a Frome indiscretion at the breakdown gave the visitors the opportunity to kick a penalty.
Frome continued to press and regained the lead when a deft inside ball from Scrum Half, Simon Westlake allowed Player of The Match, Elliott Bowler to dive over from distance for a try converted by Ali Frost.
The Frome replacements of George Benstead Matt King and Dav Jones added further energy to the Frome effort and they extended their lead when after good work by Mike Rutt his centre partner Frost burst over from close range to extend the lead to 19-10.
This prompted a response from the visitors and they put pressure on the Frome line but great defence from all the team including Connor McPherson and the returning Ross Toten kept the visitors at bay.
A dropped ball in the Frome 22 was pounced on by Dav Jones who raced clear and with the defence closing in kicked ahead and gathered his own kick he then off loaded to Rob Sully to score in the corner.
With 5 mins on the clock Newbury scored out wide, superbly converted by the visiting 10 to bring them within 7 points.
The final 5 mins saw Frome defend strongly to keep the line secure and see out a memorable win.
FT: Frome RFC 24 - 17 Newbury RFC
We caught up with Head Coach, Toby Culff after the game who commented “One of our targets for this year was to beat one of the four big teams at home. We came up short, sometimes by very little, with our first three attempts, but none of those teams found their visit to Frome an easy one. All three, I think, we're a little relieved to get out of town with a win. So this game against Newbury - a Club of such pedigree - became emotionally very important to us. Before it was too late, we wanted to show the league and our supporters that we could topple a Club of this quality. We wanted to prove it to ourselves, too.
Oddly, we actually played pretty poorly in the first half. We're prone to poor halves sometimes but, crucially, we stayed in touch on the scoreboard this time. Some of the last ditch defence was magnificent. We felt very confident turning around at halftime facing only a two point deficit.
In the 2nd half, the players were incredible. The rugby was ragged at times, and rugged throughout, but it was brave and fullhearted, packed with determination and desire. It was fantastic to watch and the tries were exciting and expertly finished. Most pleasing of all was the character of the performance and the bravery displayed in defence. Well done and thank you to everyone involved.
After the final whistle, the whole team was thrilled to learn of the 2nd team's victory. Massive congratulations to them. Their success this year is richly deserved and a source of enormous pride for the entire Club.”
A great result for the last home match of the season and they look forward to the final league fixture of the season away to Marlborough RFC on the 23rd.
The players and staff would like to thank all of the supporters for their support this year
