MALVERN Town conceded a last-minute goal to suffer a cruel 2-1 defeat away at league leaders Frome Town.
The Hillsiders took an early lead courtesy of Harry Clark’s goal only for Frome to stage a second-half comeback at Badgers Hill.
Frome equalised on the hour mark when Zac Drew scored from the penalty spot.
And the home side snatched the points at the death as Sam Teale sent a bullet header into the net at a corner to stun the visitors.
The result means Malvern sit fourth in the Southern League Division One South table with the Hillsiders now 11 points behind leaders Frome with a game in hand.
Frome came into the clash on the back of a 14-game unbeaten run with Malvern on an eight-game streak without defeat.
And the Hillsiders made the perfect start as Piers Walton won the ball out wide and found Sam Clark who in turn squared the ball to H Clark who applied the finish with the game six minutes old.
Frome spurned a glorious chance to draw level soon after as Brendan Holmes failed to test Josh Bishop in the Malvern net when through one-on-one.
However, Malvern created further chances to extend their lead as Frome goalkeeper Kyle Phillips saved Joe Tumelty’s effort following a flowing move.
And Phillips came to Frome’s rescue again later in the first half when he superbly kept out H Clark’s shot from the edge of the penalty area.
At the other end, Bishop showed good alertness to stop George Dowling’s long range strike as Malvern went into the break with a one goal advantage.
Malvern continued to test Phillips in the Frome goal after the interval as the Frome shot-stopper saved S Clark’s header.
However, Frome won a penalty on 60 minutes after the referee penalised Malvern for handball in the box.
Substitute Drew duly levelled the game from the penalty spot with a cool finish into the bottom right corner.
And Frome completed a dramatic late turnaround in the final minute when captain Teale powered a header past Bishop in a blow to the away side’s promotion hopes.
The Hillsiders searched for an equaliser in the remaining minutes as H Clark hit the woodwork with a volley from 20-yards out but Lee Hooper’s side ultimately ran out of time.
Malvern are next in action against Bishops Cleeve on Saturday, January 24 with kick-off at 3pm at Kayte Lane.
