HIGHWORTH Town manager Jeff Roberts felt his team made a small step back on to the road of recovery after a positive performance in a 1-1 draw away at league leaders Frome Town on Saturday.

Behind to a 20th minute goal from their hosts, Highworth rallied in the second 45 and Leon Morrison headed them back on equal terms with plenty of time for a winner still remaining.

But the winner was not forthcoming for either side and Roberts’ men were forced to settle for well-earned point against a Frome side that have now only won once in their past five games.

The Worthians had been beaten heavily in their previous two fixtures and were devoid of confidence heading into Saturday’s match according to Roberts, but performed admirably in Somerset and were perhaps unlucky not to take all three points in the eyes of their manager.

Roberts said: “Overall, Saturday was about us forgetting the two recent losses and trying to get us back on track a little bit.

“We wanted to get the confidence back in training and see smiles back on those faces, and I think we got that against Frome.

“We were composed on the ball, and we had Frome chasing shadows at times.

“It was good to see everyone put a shift in, it was a thoroughly deserved point and we could have even come away with three in the end.”

Highworth moved away from their usual 4-4-2 against Frome and switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Swindon Town loanee Ralph Graham operating in the number 10 role.

Town boss Roberts felt his side generated a good deal of success from the change in formation and, if not for a bit of slack play in the final third, could have made a few more chances too.

Reflecting on a tactical tweak that paid dividends, Roberts said: “We had a chat with the players before the game and said we were going to try something a little bit different.

“It was a decent surface to play football on, so it was a case of trying to move the ball around quickly and in little triangles.

“First half, I thought we kept possession really well overall, but in the final third, we just didn’t quite have the touch that we needed and we lost possession too cheaply.

“But we kept at it in the second half and we ended up frustrating Frome really.

“We dominated long periods, especially in the second half, and Leon Morrison ended up scoring a header after a decent delivery into the box.”