Cirencester draw with Salisbury in second Pre-Season Friendly fixture
Pre-Season Friendly
Cirencester Town 0 - 0 Salisbury
Match report by Dave Pyzer
The Corinium Stadium was the venue for the second Pre-Season Friendly fixture in preparation for the 2023-24 Season and the visitors were SALISBURY who finished in 15th place of the Southern League - Premier Division South at the end of the 2022-23 Season.
As with the fixture last week the Cirencester squad consisted of a mix of players – trialists, regulars and former Development Team players but in the case of the ‘regulars’ some were back whilst others were not available i.e. Joe Turley and Nick Peare unavailable whilst Jake Lee and Reegan Messenger returned. There was also the first sight of a returning Jonny Dennis after spending last season at Kidlington. Two other new faces for the faithful to view were Dan Hill and Dan Grieve who were at Highworth Town last season whilst the other new face, Harry Burns, spent last season at Pershore Town. As with last week’s match there were two goal-keepers on display – Alex Avenell (Chippenham Town) and Tom ? (Cheltenham Town).
The visitors kicked off, playing towards the Shed End of the ground, but were soon under pressure from their hosts who attacked down both flanks and were awarded the first corner kick of the match after 5 minutes.
Five minutes later Harry Burns made a darting run to the right corner to collect a pass and from there he delivered a low cross that Jonny Dennis met near the front edge of the Penalty Area but his effort was blocked and cleared.
Alex Avenell then clipped a ball down the right flank for Will Christopher to head on to Aidan Bennett and he made ground to the corner but once again the resulting cross was defended.
The first meaningful attack, that yielded a corner kick, for Salisbury came after 17 minutes when Sommerton overlapped to the left corner and Avenell punched Gunson ‘s kick away at the front edge of his 6-yard box for another corner kick from the right flank that was also defended.
During the second quarter Salisbury began to press forward more frequently and a couple of free kicks from the right flank were just too long and resulted in goal-kicks.
Into the final ten minutes of the half and a 40-yard cross-field pass found Sommerton who again obtained a corner kick for his side – defended but recycled down their right flank for Simpson to cross from the corner for Lewis to attempt an overhead kick from the edge of the home Penalty Area – blocked and cleared.
Into the last five minutes and McCreadie fired a 30-yarder wide of the left post but Avenell had got a touch to help it on its way and he was called into action again to punch the resulting corner kick away and block a follow-up shot.
The final action of the half was a ball from Reegan Messenger to the right corner for Dennis to collect and cross to the back post and when it was cleared it was quickly fed to Jake Lee who galloped to the right by-line where he was unceremoniously dumped into the side hoardings as he crossed the ball. Jonny Dennis delivered the resulting free kick to the back post where Ellis Dunton volleyed it at the target but Gould blocked the shot and as it was cleared the whistle went signalling the interval.
During the break Cirencester changed their ‘keeper for Tom ? from Cheltenham Town’s Academy.
Immediately from the re-start Lee delivered the ball to the left flank for Dan Hill to supply Dennis before darting forward to collect the return ‘flick’ that released him for a run to the left corner and a dangerous cross through the Salisbury Penalty Area.
The game had been a competitive affair but at the 55-minute mark Simpson responded to a strong challenge by stamping on the perpetrator and was awarded a Red Card for his troubles.
Salisbury re-organised their shape as a result.
Almost immediately Cirencester attacked down their right flank as Christopher supplied Bennett and he released Burns on a run to the corner – his low cross was gathered by Gould at the near post.
With their extra man Cirencester had plenty of possession but their build-up play was far too slow to cause any problems for the visitors who merely dropped back to a mass defence, whilst breaking quickly when the opportunity presented itself.
At the 75-minute mark Allan clipped the ball to the right corner for Gunson to send a low cross into the ‘mix’ but Tom anticipated and dived forward to intercept.
A few minutes later Gunson was released for a run down the right channel and once inside the home box instead of squaring the ball to a supporting colleague he elected to shoot and Tom made a superb save to deny him.
In the final minutes of the game Willem Pooley supplied Hill who moved it on to Charlie McRea and he clipped the ball in from the left side edge of the visitor’s box but too long to cause any problem for the Salisbury defence.
Referee: Gareth McMahon
CIRENCESTER TOWN:
Alex Avenell (Tom ? 46), Will Christopher, Dan Hill, Jake Lee ©, Josh Nelmes, Ellis Dunton, Jonny Dennis (Charlie McRea 58), Reegan Messenger, Dan Grieve (Ollie Stevenson 85), Harry Burns (Willem Pooley 68), Aidan Bennett (Sergio Mills 68).
SALISBURY:
Gould (Osei 82), Simpson, Sommerton, Leggett, Jombati, Trialist, Gunson (Coppin 85), McCreadie, Fitchett, Harding (Allan 61), Lewis.
This entry was posted on 10 July 2023 at 22:47 and is filed under First Team | Miscellaneous. You can leave a response here.
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