MATCH PREVIEW: STAGS END REGULAR SEASON AT FROME TOWN

FROME TOWN vs AFC TOTTON_SLPDS-42_Sat26Apr2025_Preview.jpg

VENUE:
Badger's Hill, Berkley Road, Frome, Somerset BA11 2EH
Saturday 26 April 2025 | Kick-Off at 3:00pm

AFC TOTTON’S REGULAR SEASON campaign will come to an end with the relatively short trip to Somerset to face Frome Town at Badger’s Hill on Saturday.

Last time out, The Stags sealed second place in the Southern League Premier Division South – and, consequently, home advantage for the upcoming Promotion Play-Offs – with a 2-0 home win over Winchester City, despite a half-time deluge that delayed the restart by more than an hour, and the dismissal of captain Mike Carter.

FROME TOWN – THEIR SEASON, SO FAR…
This weekend, Frome Town will bid farewell to a miserable season that will end with their relegation back to Step 4, with The Robins already guaranteed to finish 21^st of 22, well ahead of bottom-placed Marlow but too far adrift of Winchester City in 18^th place, despite The Citizens’ defeat at the Snows Stadium on Easter Monday.

Frome began the 2024/25 season with a one-nil away win at Gosport Borough, but then had to wait until early December for their second league win of the season when they triumphed 2-0 at Hanwell Town, having drawn four and lost 11 in the meantime.

They overcame Banbury-based Easington Sports, of the United Counties League Premier Division South, after a replay in First Round Qualifying for the Emirates FA Cup, but were eliminated by Larkhall Athletic in the next round. In the Isuzu FA Trophy, Frome held Havant & Waterlooville to a one-all draw, before succumbing 4-5 on penalties.

Frome’s fans didn’t experience a home win in the league until 14 December, when The Robins got into the festive spirit with a 3-0 victory over fellow relegation battlers, Swindon Supermarine, and a 5-0 home win over Plymouth Parkway on Boxing Day kept their purple patch going, until Bracknell spoiled the party by winning 4-1 when Frome visited Berkshire for their last game of 2024.

From the start of the New Year, The Robins suffered only one defeat in nine games – that loss coming at Sholing amid a run of two wins and six draws. But any hopes of surviving at Step 3 for another season began to unravel with a run of three successive 0-1 home losses – to Wimborne, Hungerford and Chertsey – followed by an away defeat by the same score at Swindon Supermarine, and a 2-3 beating at home from Play-Off hopefuls, Dorchester Town. During that run, Frome also lost the final of the Somerset Senior Cup by a single goal to Weston-super-Mare.

A 3-0 win in Devon on Easter Monday completed a league double over Plymouth Parkway, taking Frome’s points tally for the season – with one game to go – to 40 points. Six different teams are still in danger of joining them in making the drop, but even a last day hurrah and a victory over Totton would leave Frome firmly in the second-from-bottom spot and preparing for life back in the Southern League Division One South for 2025/26.

IN THE REVERSE FIXTURE…
Totton were left to rue missed chances when relegation-threatened Frome Town came to the Snows Stadium in late-January and left with a point.

Ethan Taylor, twice, and Charlie Austin passed up good chances to put The Stags ahead in the first half, and the home side paid the price for their profligacy when Rex Mannings handed the visitors a shock lead just past the hour mark with a shot from outside the penalty area that found its way through several bodies and past Ryan Gosney.

However, the lead last only 30 seconds. Ethan Taylor was played in through the heart of The Robin’s defence and levelled the scores with a calm finish into the bottom-left corner.

As the game wore on, there was only going to be one winner. A flurry of chances came and went for Totton, as Frome held on, even clearing a Tom Blair header off their goal line a full eight minutes into stoppage time before the final whistle confirmed a frustrating home draw for The Stags from a match they felt they should have won.

STAGS RADIO:
If you can’t make it to Somerset for the game on Saturday, don’t fret – StagsRadio has you covered. Commentators Benjy Rees and Josh Cole will provide full LIVE commentary of all the action from Badger’s Hill via the Spaces platform on AFC Totton’s X (Twitter) account. The build-up will begin at 2:45pm, ahead of the 3:00pm kick-off.

By Ben Rochey-Adams and Joshua Cole

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