Below par Calne suffer last minute heartbreak

4:09pm Friday 17th November 2006

Comments (0)   Have your say »

CALNE captain Alan Wicks said he felt "gutted" after his side fought back courageously against Frome, only to lose to a last-minute try.

The hosts found themselves 17-3 down at the interval but produced a stirring comeback in the second period to lead 21-20.

But the Frome backs ripped a hole in the Calne defence with the last play of the game to steal the points and the plaudits.

"It was so disappointing to lose like that," said a dejected Wicks.

"The second half performance was fantastic, especially from the forwards. When we took the lead I really thought we could hold on for the win.

"But we had a very inexperienced back line. Some of the lads that came had never played together before and they struggled to contain the Frome backs.

"It's not their fault that we lost - if we'd had a little more experience in that area I'm sure the result would have been different."

Frome raced into a 17-3 lead at half time with two converted tries and a penalty. Full back Stuart Boswell answered for Frome with a penalty.

Boswell sparked a terrific comeback with another penalty early in the second half to reduce the arrears to 17-6.

Fly half James Gladding touched down after a neat off-load from skipper Wicks before a third Boswell penalty cut the lead to just three points.

Calne went in front for the first time when another Boswell penalty attempt rebounded off the goalpost and wing Mike Smith pounced.

The successful conversion from Boswell opened up a 21-17 lead, which was soon slashed to just one point thanks to a Frome penalty.

And the visitors had the last laugh when their backs profited from some quick ball to seal the win with a converted try.

"It was a good game of rugby and both sides deserved something out of the game," said Wicks afterwards.

"Hopefully this two-week break from league action will give us time to get back up to full strength again."