Defeats are never easy to take, and so it was on Saturday as we suffered our eleventh reverse of the season at the hands of promotion chasing Havant & Waterlooville.
However, those who travelled to Westleigh Park told us that we fully deserved our half-time lead and were unlucky not to take anything from the game.
We are currently in 18th place the league (P26 W7 D8 L11 29 points) but it is so congested that a couple of wins will quickly take us to a more comfortable mid-table position.
One player who continues to put in some great performancesis Harvey Slade, our 6’4 box to box midfielder who provides aerial threat and has an eye for goal with his late runs into the box. He originally joined us on loan from Weymouth during the 2023/24 but agreed a contract with the Dolphins for the 2024/25 campaign. Harvey started his career at Bashley where he scored an impressive six goals in 15 appearances from central midfield emphasising his goal-scoring ability from deep. He was one of our standout players in the conclusion of the 2023/24 season.
So, we move on, and next up is the re-arranged visit of Frome Town FC on Saturday. They should have entertained Wimborne Town at Badgers Hill on Tuesday evening but the match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. We played The Robins in October at Badgers Hill and came away with all three points from a 3-2 win after a very frenetic last 15 minutes saw three goals. Our scorers on that day were Josh Staunton, Toby Holmes and Jamie Whisken. They are celebrating their 120th anniversary this year.
Frome were relegated in the 2018/19 season and after a couple of seasons in the Southern League South they won promotion back to this league by overcoming Bristol Manor Farm in the play-off final on May 6th in front of a bumper 2250 crowd.
They have not had the start that they would have liked, as they are currently in 21st place (P24 W5 D7 L12 22 points) but come into this match on the back of a well-deserved 0-0 draw against Gloucester City last Saturday. Like many clubs in this league, they have won more points on the road (13) than at home (9). They have won matches at Gosport, Hanwell and Winchester.
Despite their lowly league position, they now sit in third placein the form table (P6 W3 D2 L1) which goes to show that there are no easy games in this league.
The Robins are managed by long serving Danny Greaves who recently told their website, “When I first joined the club in 2018, myself and the board set out a vision and a long-termplan. We knew the first season was going to be extremely tough, and while getting relegated wasn’t part of that plan, we didn’t lose sight of what we were all trying to build long term”.
One of Danny’s first signing was a product of the very successful Bristol City academy, George Rigg, who went on to play for Exeter, Weymouth and Bath City before joining the Robins. Another exciting prospect is the striker James Ollis, who has gained league experience at Keynsham, Mangotsfield United and Yate Town before signing for Frome Town in 2020.
With lots at stake for both sides this is bound to be a very keenly contested match so come along early to take in the special atmosphere that the Black Gold generates.
Enjoy the game,
Neil Wellington.
