FROME FALL JUST SHORT AT BRISTOL

After it was decided that the hosts would bat, Frome were looking to make early inroads through the Bristol line up. This was hard to come by though as Bristol had numerous skillful batsmen in the top order.

Frome bowled tight lines early on though; Mark Watts and Ethan Cox were bowling nicely. The visitors then got the first breakthrough when Arthur Harman spun one past the bat. Harman bowled nicely in the innings, conceding only 28 from his eight overs on a nice batting wicket.

The first wicket was then followed with two further quick wickets. First, Mark Harman took a fantastic catch diving forward at cover off Aaron Woodruff's bowling, before Mark Dredge and wicketkeeper Joe Smart combined to take advantage of confusion between the batsmen- claiming a run out.

From there though, it was a long slog for the Showmen in the field. A large partnership between a left and right hander from Bristol ran the Frome fielders ragged- with the pair scoring fifties.

However, Frome battled back in the latter stages. Some smart bowling from Mark Harman (0-11) helped slow the run rate down, before Watts (2-30) and Cox (0-41) returned at the death to conclude the innings.

Watts' brace of wickets at the end of the innings ensured that the strong partnership was ended, and both fifty scoring batsmen were sent back to the pavilion before the end of the 40 overs.

216-5 was the hosts score on a batting track that was true enough, although it was turning as Harman showed. The outfield was large so lots of running had been a feature of the match so far.

In response, Frome then struggled early on as Lord (3-4) ripped through the top order. Woodruff (4), Dredge (4) and Arthur Harman (3) all fell victim to the left arm seamer, leaving Frome needing to rebuild.

Rebuild they did though; Smart and Watts played sensibly to get some runs on the board, and get the Showmen back into the match. The former was next to go though, being stumped after constructing 54.

This was followed by Watts (22), Dan Weston (2) and Cox (0)- meaning that Mark Sanger and Robin Lett were left with lots to do. The 1st XI captain and former Somerset player did keep Frome scoring from there on though, and despite Sanger being run out for 25- this was set for a tight finish.

Mark Harman joined Lett, and they took Frome past 200, before a stunning catch at mid-wicket removed Harman for 2- leaving one wicket remaining for the visitors.

The captain, Lett had batted superbly, picking the gaps expertly and regularly finding the cover boundary on numerous occasions. But despite him and Shane Ford taking Frome very close to the victory target- they fell just four runs short.

Lett hauled out to deep wide long-on for 77, giving Bristol the slender victory margin on home turf.

Next Sunday, the Sunday Development XI are back to Fromefield for their first home league fixture of 2016. Bath are the Showmen's opponents in the Three Counties Sunday League.