Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
32.jpg)
Cirencester Town picked up only their fourth win of the season but with Swindon Supermarine's defeat at Stourbridge this was enough to see both teams swap places and Town finish the year off the bottom of the table with a much needed three points away at Bashley.
Missing a few players, it was a makeshift backline which took to the field and before they could get into their stride they found themselves 1-0 down on 9 minutes when they failed to stop a cross coming in from the right and Richard Gillespie was allowed time to take the ball down, turn and fire into the corner to give Kevin Sawyer no chance.
Only a minute later and Town were lucky not to be 2-0 down when after a mistake by Jamie Dunn, Gillespie was through on goal but fortunately for Town he wasn't so clinical this time firing well wide when he should have done better.
Town had their first chance of the afternoon on 13 minutes when good work down the right by Mitchell Bryant saw him pull the ball back to Ben Reardon who should have done better with his finish, allowing Tommy Smith the chance to make the save for Bashley. It was Reardon again in a similar position only minutes later after good work by Jamie Reid this time in the right hand channel but once again the chance went begging as Reardon scuffed his volley wide.
Gillespie it was who was causing most of the problems for Bashley and on 37 minutes he cut in from the right and fired a shot straight at Kev Sawyer who held on comfortably.
Most of Town's chances fell to Ben Reardon and he saw an overhead kick effort blocked bravely by centre back, Paul Gazzard for Bashley and on the stroke of half time, Jamie Reid for Town saw himself enter the referee's notebook earning himself a yellow card.
Town came out for the second half and got straight back into the game when brilliant wing play down the right by Mitchell Bryant saw him turn his defender in knots and he delivered a brilliant cross to the far post which was met with power on the run by Jamie Reid to beat Tommy Smith and bring the scores level.
On 51 minutes Town should have taken the lead, but Jon Else fired weakly at Smith when he was clear of his marker and through on goal and the chance went begging.
At the other end Kev Sawyer made a good spreading save when Gillespie got in on goal to deny him but in the 57th minute Gillespie managed his second goal of the afternoon. Jamie Reid gave away a needless free kick on the halfway line which Bashley took quickly and with Zak Westlake just coming back on the field of play after an injury, the back four were not organised enough to deal with the cross into the box and Gillespie fired home on the half volley from close range totally unmarked.
Town nearly got the equaliser with a slice of luck but Reid's cross shot came back off the bar. However it wasn't long before Town did draw level.
Oliver Pitt who had just come on as substitute played an excellent pass out wide for Jon Else to cross, Ben Reardon took the ball down well and from an acute angle managed to lob it over the stationary Smith into the far top corner for a great finish and make the score 2-2.
It looked like that would be the end of the scoring but wheras the luck has not being going Town's way of late, this time lady luck was smiling as from a Mortimer-Jones corner a scramble at the back post saw Jamie Reid with the help of Aiden Bennett just sneak the ball over the line.
Town saw the game out to secure a vital 3 points in their bid to avoid the drop.
With injuries, suspensions and a couple of players departing the club this week Manager Brian Hughes will no doubt be keen to bolster the squad with some new signings in the coming weeks with a host of important games coming up.
Referee: Mr M Rushton
Attendance: 242
Bashley:
1 Tommy Smith
2 Luke Whitley
3 Ian Oliver
4 Gary Middleton
5 Paul Gazzard
6 Matt Finlay
7 Richard Gillespie
8 Dave Allen (C)
9 James Stokoe
10 Mark Gamble
11 Liam Green
12 Stefan Penny
13 Joe Prodomo
14 Matt Vokes
15 Carl Foster
16 Chris Ferrett
Cirencester Town:
1 Kevin Sawyer (c)
2 Jared Wilson
3 Ellis Dunton
4 Jamie Dunn
5 Nathan Davies
6 Zak Westake
7 Jamie Reid (Booked)
8 James Mortimer-Jones
9 Ben Reardon
10 Mitch Bryant
11 Jon Else
14 Aiden Bennett (on for Reardon 85 mins)
15 Oliver Pitt (on for Bryant 68 mins)