Dorchester will see this as a game that they could easily have won. Frome however finished the game strongly and just about deserved to take the spoils.
In surprisingly good conditions the visitors elected to play up the slope and were forced to defend for long periods. Dorchester were winning plenty of good ball but it was all in their own twenty two and hence the majority of it had to be kicked to touch. The defence held firm for twenty minutes but eventually the pressure told and Frome squeezed in the right hand corner.
The hosts continued to dominate territorially and, when Dorchester finally ran out of defenders the Frome right winger scored the second try of the day. Neither try was converted. Dorchester’s only real chance of points came from a long distance penalty attempt by Rich Bament, playing his first game since September, which just drifted wide.
Trailing by only ten points and with the slope now in their favour Dorchester knew they were still in the game and set about reducing the deficit. A penalty from Bament closed the gap before prop Stephen Hodgson scored from a perfectly executed front peel. When Bament boomed over the touchline conversion the visitors were looking like the team most likely to win and this was increased when the Frome fullback was binned for a dangerous tackle on his opposite number Matt Read. Bament however was unable to convert the resulting penalty and it was Frome who edged in front with a penalty of their own.
With fifteen minutes to go and the game in the balance Dorchester centre Tim Cuzens badly dislocated his knee and had to be carried off. The long delay appeared to affect the Dorchester side and they lost the edge that they had previously had. Frome scored a third unconverted try to open the gap to eight points and with time running out Dorchester were forced to chase the game. As a result their mistakes allowed the hosts to cross for a fourth try at the death giving a slightly flattering look to the final score.
Acheson Construction man of the match: Justin Miller.
Team: Hodgson, Chalker, Bamlet, Hodges, King, Hawkins, Miller, Dixon; D Gower, Jones; Bament, Cuzens (J Gower 60), Harvey, T Gower; Read;
