Shaftesbury Have a New Drawing-Frome Drama

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 13th September 2025 at Coppice Street
Result	Shaftesbury 1 Frome Town 1
Competition	FA Cup 2nd Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground 807 on the lifetime list.
Context
A clash between two Step 4 teams from the Southern League Division One South. This is Shaftesbury’s 10th game of the season, six of which have been in the knockout competitions. They have scored a fair few goals in the early games. A 5-0 replay win over Baffins Milton Rovers in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup followed a 1-1 draw. They then disposed of Thatcham Town (4-0 at home) and Exmouth (2-0 away) in the next two rounds to set up this tie, pausing only to win at Bristol Manor Farm in the FA Trophy. With three wins out of four league games, it’s fair to say they are enjoying a good start to the season among the leading scorers. Frome have three wins from three games in the league. In the FA Cup, they get here with a home win over Newquay in the Preliminary Round followed by a 4-0 win at Plymouth Parkway. The only blip in their season is a Trophy loss at Winchester last weekend, otherwise it’s an impressive defensive record.
Match Report
As a passing neutral, the best games are those in which the result is in doubt right to the end, and this ticked all those boxes. Tense at times, punctuated by sunshine and sharp showers, it was compelling. It could have been 1-1 after one minute. Shaftesbury hit the post with their first attack, and then the Frome keeper was in action at the other end to deal with a looping deflection. After that manic start, the game settled into mutual cancellation in midfield until Frome flashed a ball straight through the home six-yard box in the 29th minute. As we approached half-time, Shaftesbury forced some corners but they were well-defended. Then, one of those things that the young people of today call worldies. A home attack on the left flank broke down, the ball was recycled into midfield, and Alefe Santos, in plenty of space and time, fired a long-distance shot into the far right to break the match deadlock. At first, the second half followed the same pattern. The teams traded chances. Shaftesbury’s Brandon Mundy volleyed just wide and then a Frome cross was just a fraction too high for a heading opportunity. I noted that, “S will need a second (goal) here” as Frome gradually came to dominate the possession and territory. I was soon to add, “How have F not scored?”. Frome’s David Duru had an interesting few minutes. It was his persistence that created that chance, needing an amazing goalline block and clearance from a home defender to deny Charlie Holliday. This was followed by an attempted overhead kick – spectacular but wide – before he was floored with a head injury. He left the field after lengthy patching-up work and the added time was to become a big part of today’s story. Frome should have levelled sooner but substitute Sam Meakes hit the post when through one-on-one. We had goalmouth pinball, we had another pullback from Meakes go astray just behind the attacker when it should have been easier to score. It looked as if Frome were out of luck. Maybe Shaftesbury could have been better at so-called “game management”. However. At 5.03pm Meakes planted an unstoppable header from a right-wing cross to earn a deserved replay. As we left, someone loudly berated the referee about the added time to which he quipped back about giving value for money. I suspect he’s used that line before. There had been 14 or 15 minutes of added time, on top of the 4 or 5 from the first half. I won’t be able to get to the replay, but I’ll certainly look for the result. #sorrynotsorry about the blogpost title, but I have to have a pun (or two) in here somewhere, it’s the rule. It only works if you pronounce Frome like the locals!
So What?
Replay at Frome Town on Wednesday 17 September at 7.45pm.
Pre-match Entertainment
Nothing whatsoever, no time. Diversion from Hertfordshire via M4 due to closure of the M3, so yet another morning spent bumper-to-bumper on the dreaded M25 western section before joining the queue to crawl past Stonehenge on the A303. Witnessed some terrible and discourteous driving too. The other undoubted attractions of Shaftesbury will have to wait, sorry.
Pix
Shaftesbury in red-and-white.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today Yellow v Green, same as last night (West Ham Women 1-5 Arsenal Women). My last 339 games have contributed to the table. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (93 from 194)
What Next?
Not sure. Schoolwork demands really kicking in now so a lot will depend on the weather and whether my GCSE physics students have dogs with an appetite for homework.