A FAST, furious and highly-entertaining game ended in a 1-1 draw between Frome Town and Weymouth last night.

University commitments meant that Frome were without the services of Connor Roberts, Joe Tumelty and Jordy Nkunga, so the side was re-shuffled, with Jordan Walker moving from midfield to right-back, Ricky Hulbert taking the midfield slot and new signing Marcus Mapstone coming in for his debut at centre-half alongside Stuart Dickin.

Dan Lloyd-Western kept his place in goal after an impressive performance at the weekend.

With Weymouth having only lost one of their last eight league matches and sitting in fourth place in the league, this was to prove another test for a rapidly-improving Robins side that has only lost two of their last eight league games.

The match started with chances at both ends, and Lloyd-Western did well early on to make a good double save, denying Tim Sills as he closed in for the rebound following Stewart Yetton’s first-time shot.

But then the hosts went close as Jon Davies and Corby Moore played a neat one-two that resulted in a perfect low ball into Tyler Sibbick, only for the striker to get under it and clear the crossbar.

As the match settled, there wasn’t a lot to choose between the sides, with Weymouth carving out a chance for Adam Kelly in the 17th minute that brought a regulation save from Lloyd-Western and Hulbert making a very sharp last-minute interception to deny Yetton a shooting chance.

At the other end, Davies was causing problems for the Weymouth defence with his curling free-kicks and corners and a 27th minute in-swinging corner nearly caught Jason Matthews out but the Terras keeper managed to palm it away to safety.

Frome took the lead in the 37th minute as anotehr curling cross from Davies was perfectly placed to just clear the head of Pat Baldwin and Sibbick showed remarkable composure to take the ball on his chest, bring it down, and calmly slot the ball past Matthews into the far corner.

Nick Bunyard’s men went close again in the 43rd minute as a Davies free-kick was headed out to Darren Jefferies to blast one inches past the far post, but then just before half-time, Weymouth spurned an opportunity as Chris McPhee headed over the bar from close-range.

The second half started in a manner that was going to last the half, with Weymouth probably having a little more of the possession and territory, but Frome defending with great tenacity and looking dangerous as they counter-attacked.

Two early counters brought saves from Matthews, who denied Moore and then Sibbick, and then as the temperature of the match started to heat up, Davies produced a stunning run from inside in his own half, and as three defenders closed in on him, he jinked inside and curled a 25-yard shot onto the Weymouth crossbar.

As Weymouth turned the screw, a few minutes of frenzied defending led to Jordan Walker bending low to head a ball out of play, only for Yetton to latch onto the ball and drive it beyond Lloyd-Western to restore parity.

The pace then stepped up again as both sides went for the winner.

Davies clipped a free-kick over the bar for Frome, Weymouth’s Calvin Brooks flashed a header just wide of the Frome goal and a few minutes later, a Yetton header was cleared off the line.

As the minutes ticked away, the tackles became tastier, but both defences stayed solid, and then in the 92nd minute, Frome had a golden chance to win it as a low Matthews clearance was latched onto by substitute Liam Monelle.

But as the empty goal beckoned, he couldn’t quite get the direction he needed in the time available and his shot cleared the far post by a couple of yards.