Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
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Match Report by Andy Buchan
Cirencester Town travelled 37 miles north to the Jubilee Stadium to take on Evesham Town FC in this Evo-stik S&W division one match.
After what seemed like for ever with no games due to floods, heavy frost and snow bound pitches, it was good to get back into watching some footie,
This was Ciren’s first visit to the new Jubilee stadium and they were seeking revenge after losing earlier in the season 1-3 at the Corinium Stadium. Ciren had a few changes, with Chris Thompson back from injury, Scott Griffin was in the starting line-up, Josh Morse playing on the left and new signing Shayne Anson in at No 2. Evesham on the other hand had four ex Ciren players in their line-up.
The game kicked off in front of a healthy crowd of 223 on a not to be expected anything other than a wet pitch, but all praise to the Evesham ground staff for their fine work to enable this match to take place. It was a cloudy and chilly afternoon, however spirits were high for an equally matched and entertaining game.
The first real opportunity of the game came in the 10th minute when a good run and cross from Josh Morse was met by Sam Collier whose glancing header whistled past the post. 3 minutes later Shayne Anson made a great run from defence down the right wing, his inch perfect cross to Morse was met with a thunderous shot which was deflected for a corner.
Ben Wells took the corner from the left which was high to the back post, where Ellis Dunton climbed higher than his two markers and placed a powerful head on the ball which looked as if it was destined for the top of the net before smashing against the bar. In this first twenty minutes it was all Ciren.
In the 27th minute Wells hit a long ball from all of 60 yards into the path of Morse who showed great skill in taking on the Evesham defence, beating three defenders, getting to the by-line and sending in a low hard cross which Collier got a foot to only to see Tom Cross the Evesham keeper save. Minutes later Wells and Morse combined well again, as Wells fed the ball through to Morse. His pace saw him drive into the box and fire a shot that Cross did well to tip over for a corner.
Cirencester were playing great football with Wells commanding the midfield and feeding great balls down the flanks. As our chairman commented, when Wells is playing well the whole team plays well. Ciren were applying all the pressure, with Leigh Henry heading just over the bar from a corner, and Scott Griffin with an opportunist shot from the halfway line after seeing the keeper was way off his line. Referee, Lisa Rashid blew the whistle bringing the first half to a scoreless end.
At the start of the second half the wind had picked up considerably and was in the faces of the Ciren team. Five minutes into the half, Anson made another penetrating run, feeding the ball to Aiden Bennett, whose pass found Morse and from the edge of the box he hit a ferocious shot which was deflected for a corner.
In the 56th minute, Wells made a tremendous run covering at least 60 yards of the pitch before feeding the ball on the right into the path of Bennett. He sold the dummy to Jamie Hyde, moved to the right. and hammered a right footed shot which had goal written all over it. However Cross made a diving one handed save, pushing the ball over for a Ciren corner.
Cirencester were now playing into a stiff breeze and by keeping the ball on the deck with good passing were holding off the impeding challenge from Evesham. Anson was having a dream debut with good timed tackles and breaking forward at every opportunity. Henry and Thompson were solid at the back, the whole team were playing fantastic football and were unfortunate not to be at least one goal ahead.
Brian Hughes made a change in the 75th minute bringing off Griffin who had picked up a knock, replacing him with Joe Shepherd, Ciren’s last chance came in the 76th minute when a Wells free kick was met by the head of Collier, whose goal bound attempt was saved by the keeper.
There was a skirmish in the 87th minute after Dunton brought down an Evesham player. The Evesham players over reacted causing mayhem in the centre circle. Finally, after consulting her line officials, the referee gave bookings to Dunton, Shepherd and Collier also booking Evesham’s Jamal Clarke and Simon Fitter.
The game finished a goalless draw with both teams contributing to a great game of football to watch. However i might be biased, but we were the better team and deserved a victory. A truly marvellous performance from the lads. If we can take this team spirit, determination and plenty of good Cirencester team support to high flying Hungerford next Saturday, who knows?
On a final note the consensus of opinion from the Ciren supporters was that the referee did a great job, one of the best we have had.
We need good support at Hungerford next Saturday, so please try and get there and support the team. We won't be running a team coach but, if you are struggling for transport, call Scott at the club as car sharing is available.
Attendance: 223
Referee: LIsa Rachid
Evesham United:
1. Tom Cross
2. Jared Wilson
3. Jamie Hyde
4. Matt Sysum
5. Jamal Clarke
6. James Blake
7. Leigh Downing
8. Sam Adkins
9. Marcus Palmer
10. Carl Brown
11. William Gayton
12. Leon Kandekore
14. Simon Fitter
15. Dwayne Spence
16. David Edwards
17. Jack Dell
Cirencester Town:
1. Glyn Garner
2. Shayne Anson
3. Ellis Dunton
4. Chris Thompson
5. Leigh Henry
6. James Mortimer-Jones
7. Ben Wells
8. Aidan Bennett
9. Sam Collier
10. Scott Griffin
11. Josh Morse
12. Jon Beedon
14. Joe Shepherd (on for Scott Griffin - 75 mins)
15. Brad Hooper
16. Nathan Hawkins
17. George Washbourne