Late strike gives Robins honours in Somerset derby

A late strike condemned City to defeat this afternoon against Frome Town at the Badgers Hill Stadium. Substitute Dowling had only just come on to the pitch when his 81st minute low shot through a crowded area found the net to secure the Somerset derby honours for the home side.

Matt Bowman almost marked his return to the starting line-up in perfect fashion when his second minute shot was well saved by keeper Phillips. City failed to build on this promising start and game provided little in the way of quality football for the record 2000+ crowd packed in to the ground. The only person on the pitch seemingly getting excited during the opening 45 minutes.was referee Mr Bromham who showed four yellow cards to the hosts. The Robins did enjoy a slightly more promising spell during the closing ten minutes of the half but failed to trouble Harvey Wiles-Richards in the City goal.

Into the second half there was little sign of an improvement as City struggled to hold on to the ball and Frome failed to capitalise whenever they were gifted possession. On 56 minutes City were handed a rare sight of goal when a slip allowed Alex Fisher to race forward but his shot lacked power and was easily gathered by Phillips. A triple substitution on the hour mark briefly breathed life into the Romans but this soon faded and the game looked to be headed for the tamest of goalless draws. However, with nine minutes left the ball dropped to Dowling and his low shot found the net to spark joyous scenes from the Robins players and fans. City almost responded immediately when Joe Raynes’ deep cross picked out Kieran Parselle but his header was blocked by Phillips, who then scrambled away the follow up for a corner. And that was Frome’s only real scare as they saw out the remaining to time to record a famous victory over their Somerset neighbours.