ROBINS MUST ‘UP THE ANTE’
DETERMINED Frome Town manager Danny Greaves has warned his troops they will need to raise their game to achieve their promotion dream next season.
Following relegation in 2018-19, the Robins were determined to bounce straight back up to Southern League Premier South.
And they were making a good fist of it, too. They were second in the Division One South table behind leaders Thatcham Town on goal difference, though the latter did have a game in hand.
Instead of an exciting end to the season in what looked to be a two-horse race for the title, the coronavirus pandemic en-sured neither side went up – as the season was declared null and void from Steps 3 to 7.
As a result, Frome must get set to go again whenever next season kicks off – but Greaves has urged his players not to think it will be easy to repeat what they did in the aborted campaign.
“We are realistic,” he told The NLP. “We were a big fish to be shot at last season, but it’s going to be even tougher this year.
Platform
“Everyone is going to want to beat us and some teams have strengthened a lot, Totton being one of them. They have made good signings.
“It’s going to be another tough battle, but we need to get back up to the Southern Premier and kick on again. The ambition last year was to go straight back up and that remains the same. There are plans for a new stadium, there’s a new board and this is an exciting place to be.”
Greaves joined the Somerset club from Step 5 Bradford Town in 2018, but couldn’t prevent the club being relegated in his first season in charge. Some boards may have panicked, but the Frome directors clearly felt they had the right man on board.
“I have said many times that the club have been so supportive of me, es “Jake pecially in that first season when we were struggling,” explained the 35-year-old, who signed a two-year contract extension in April. “They have stuck by me and backed me. We knew it would be a struggle with our financial resources, but we didn’t want to get relegated. It wasn’t part of the plan, but it’s given us a platform to rebuild.
“When I first joined, we said it would be long-term and hopefully we are now starting to get the rewards. We have now got a more local group of players who really want to play for the club and work hard for it. Sometimes it’s a case of having to take one step back to hopefully take two steps forward.”
Although the Badgers Hill outfit have lost defender Mark Cooper and midfielder Dan Cottle from last season’s squad, there has been plenty of positive business, too.
Goalkeeper James Carey has signed from Hereford. The 20-year-old previously had a successful loan spell with Frome from Bristol City in 2018-19 until it was cut short by injury. “He’s got masses of potential and we’ve nailed him down on a contract as well,” said Greaves. “Hopefully we can play a part in his development. He can possibly go back into the league or certainly push up the Non-League levels.”
Legend
Up front, Greaves has added extra firepower with the captures of ex-Robin Jake Jackson from Gloucester City and James Ollis from Thatcham.
“We scored a fair number of goals last season, but our conversion of chances wasn’t great,” admitted Greaves. “We weren’t ruthless enough.
“Jake is a proven goalscorer who’s done it at a higher level and he’s come in with the bit between his teeth. James is a good young talent who had a really good season at Mangotsfield and Thatcham last season. He’s a versatile player which is what you need at this level.”
Another big plus is that attacker Jon Davies, the joint second top scorer in the league with 17 goals last term, is staying put.
“That’s a massive boost,” added Greaves. “He’s a bit of a legend around the club and I think we can get more out of him.”