Gone for a Burton: Frome Town v Hereford. Wednesday 27th September 2017

Frome 0 Hereford 3

There's something deeply unsatisfying about turning up late for a game of football.

Arrive at half time when it's 3-0 and nothing much happens in the second half - with the score remaining 3-0 - and it's even more unsatisfying. This was to be my fate on this Wednesday night in Frome. Squeezing though the unmanned turnstiles I couldn't help but feel like an intruder. The other spectators around me were seasoned veterans of the first half and seemed to be exchanging knowing looks over their half time cups of tea. Some of them were probably lucky enough to have got to the ground early enough for a pint in the clubhouse. A rare treat for me these days. You can't beat sipping on a beer whilst peering in to old team photos from yesteryear and taking in the smell of the carpet.

As I struggled to orientate myself to the floodlit surroundings, the teams came back out from the changing rooms. At least my mate Ben was at hand to fill me in on the first half. The visitors, Hereford were 3-0 up.

Frome Town FC have been a staple in the Southern League Premier for some years. After Yeovil, Weston Super Mare and Bath City they are the next highest ranked team in Somerset (if my geography is correct). Hereford have featured on these pages a number of times before and now find themselves in the Southern Premier following consecutive promotions. Having gone through the previous two leagues like a hot knife through butter, they arrived tonight sitting in 7th place, evidently finding more challenging opposition at this level.

I've heard some interesting things about the town of Frome. It made headlines a couple of years ago when in local elections independents won all the council seats with the main parties being frozen out. It also has a well renowned monthly sunday market that I've been meaning to go to for years but haven't got round to. Before tonight my only other visit to the town came when I was about 14 for a game of cricket. The things that stick out in my memory is that nearly every player for the Frome team had the surname Dredge including the umpire. The other thing I recall is that during the game some young lads drove through a fence on to the pitch in a battered Escort, did some impressive doughnuts on the outfield and then drove off again. But enough of my childhood cricketing memories, I was here for football and my first impression of the ground was very positive. It could be said that Frome's stadium it is so good they named it three times! The fine people at Footballmap.com advise they play at the wonderfully named Badgers Hill. On arriving though signage welcomed me to the Blidmans Brewery Stadium. Ten yards on though another sign told me I was at the Special Effect Stadium!

Make up your mind lads!

No matter the name, the ground is large for this level with 4 proper stands. The oldest looking stand is behind one of the goals and has the club house bar at is rear. This is a narrow standing terrace and intriguingly there is a road between it and the pitch. Something I don't think I've ever seen elsewhere. Opposite was the newest looking stand, an all seated covered stand with shiny red seats, accessed via steps and perched on a brick wall affording it good views looking down on the action. Behind the dug out side of the pitch was a gentle slope of a terrace with a huge roof. The remaining stand had more covered seating and stretched most the length of the pitch. All in all a decent stadium and one that would not look out of place in the National South should Frome move up a level. There was a good crowd of 500 plus in, as usual Hereford bought a big following, it all seemed very good tempered and the bouncers that had been bought in for the night didn't have much to do.

To the game. I was reliably informed that Garyn Preen scored the first goal courtesy of a howler from the Frome keeper. My mate Ben likened it to Massimo Taibi's famous diver over the ball for Man United all those years ago. John Mills who has been Hereford's main goal scorer for the past two seasons got the second before Keyan Reffell put the visitors 3-0 up just before half time.

There was very little to report in the second half. And what there was I probably missed, turning up so late I felt out of sync and struggled to get in to the swing of things. I was also distracted by bumping in to fellow traveller and blogger Tom of Partizan Bristle. No doubt his report of the game will be altogether more satisfying. More distraction was to be found when Ben noticed that the linesman was a bloke he knew from work. As for what I did take in - it was good to see veteran Ryan Green still playing at the back for Hereford a decade or so since he wore the blue and white of Bristol Rovers. He spent much of the mid 2000's competing with Lewis Haldane for the title of best perma-tan at the Memorial stadium. Now in his late 30's he still looks pretty fit and dapper. Also nice to see that the instantly recognisable Peter Beadle in trademark red cap is still at the helm at Hereford in their quest upwards toward the football league.