This was a game for the 1st team that was more difficult than it should have been.  The game was played in extremely hot conditions and there were some instances of the heat getting to players heads with a few ugly moments arising.

The game also had its funnier side when, after ten minutes, the referee decided that Frome’s red/white/black hoops were confusing him as they looked very “similar” to Ivel’s balck/white quarters.  To make things easier for himself he made Frome change to all white tops.  No clash issue there then!

Ivel were forced to make some nine changes from last weeks game due to injuries suffered.  In came Emlyn Kuhn, “Man of the Match” Louis Jones, Ed Mason and Troy Fowler moving up from the second team.  Dave Burton also made his first league appearance this season after recovering from injury.

Ivel showed early promise dominating the line-outs. Unfortunately, after some strong scrummaging from Ivel, the home side gained the power edge in the scrums. Within 5 minutes Frome had taken the lead through an un-converted try. As the half went on, Ivel failed to reply as the home defence held firm and handling errors crept in. The visitors did manage to get back on a level par with a try of their own.  Emlyn Kuhn used all of his experience to open an opportunity for Sam Armitstead to create his own space and score.  Unfortunately Tom Stokes missed the conversion.

The rest of the half turned into a battle of the forwards but with no more scores.  This was despite repeated pressure from both sides.

The second half continued in the same vein but then, in a mad 15 minute spell, Ivel managed to lose their concentration and focus allowing Frome to score almost at will.  Ivel kept battling and defending to the last and, according to captain Kris Shore, “showed heart, commitment and spirit” to not give in.  Despite all efforts Ivel could not gain any more points and Frome ran out winners.

The score does not pay full service to how well Ivel played in hot conditions and against an opposition who felt the need to go a little bit too far.  Especially in the first half where they had players sin-binned for violent conduct and a professional foul.  During one fracas, a particular home player should have been shown a red card.  As the referee wasn’t looking he didn’t get penalised at all! 

Kris Shore was pleased with the effort shown but would like to see more players at training as the season is now in progress.  Saturday the 27th is Ivels first home league game of the season and we would like to see as many people as possible at The Showground to support the lads.