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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Cirencester Town welcomed fellow top of the table opponents Bridgwater Town to the Corinium stadium on Saturday 24th August on a blustery afternoon.
Leigh Henry was not available due to a back injury and to make matters worse Steve Davies pulled up in the warm up with a thigh strain. This was a major blow losing two of our top players in this top of the league clash.
Bet Victor have made Bridgwater 6/1 to win the league second only to Merthyr Town at 5/1 so we knew a tough game was on the cards.
Ciren kicked off attacking the arena end. Aiden Bennett, who took the place of Davies, made an early run down the left, sending a good ball over to Lee Smith on the right. He made his run into the box and looked to be brought down in the box. There were shouts for a penalty which fell on deaf ears with the referee. The ball was played quickly up-field by Bridgwater into Joe Bushin on the left. His pace took him into the box, and he then fired a shot past Glyn Garner into the opposite corner giving the away team an early lead in the 2nd minute.
Ciren nearly equalized minutes later after a free kick by Ellis Dunton to the far post, Smith blasted it goal bound only to see it deflected for a corner.
In the 30th minute Bennett saw a long range shot fly over the bar, Ciren were piling on the pressure and looking good for the equalizer.
Ciren had a free kick in the 41st minute from the right, which was met by Will Morford with a glancing header that gave the keeper no chance as it hit the far corner of the net.
Everything changed in the 47th minute, after a challenge outside the box was seen by the linesman as being in the box. After consultation with both linesmen and referee, a penalty was awarded which Jon Vance took and scored giving Bridgwater a 2-1 lead.
In the dying minutes of the 1st half Chris Holland picked up a back injury in the Bridgwater penalty area and was replaced with Brad Hooper.
Half Time 1-2
The second half expectancy for the Ciren supporters was tarnished by what was judged by many to have been some very poor refereeing decisions in the 1st half, especially the penalty decision.
Without the core of our back four, both Henry and Holland out injured, it would prove to be a tough test in the 2nd half for the makeshift Ciren defence which was exposed in the 1st minute of the restart when a Bridgwater ball through the middle found Joe Bushin who again made no mistake firing the ball on the half volley past Garner into the far corner,
It was now all uphill for Ciren.
On 55 mins, Joe Bushin, after two clinical finishes, wasted a golden chance to complete his hatrick when he put too much on a lob over Ciren keeper, Glyn Garner.
The poor decisions continued when, after a Ciren corner, James Mortimer-Jones headed at goal only to see Chris Wright the Bridgwater keeper at full stretch tip the ball over the bar. The referee gave a goal kick.
Another poor decision occurred when a loose ball was in the box. the Bridgwater keeper came out two footed in a 50:50 challenge with Joe Shepherd, both going for the ball. The referee sent off Shepherd with a straight red, but not even a caution for the keeper.
To compound a miserable afternoon for Ciren, Daine O'Connor scored a fourth goal for Bridgwater on 90 mins before Ciren's Jon Beedon was sent off for dissent in injury time.
Final score 1-4
Bridgwater played solid football and were worthy of their win, going top of the league, and looking one of the early title favourites. Ciren must now hope we can get Henry, Holland and Davies fit to get us back on an even keel.
Attendance: 108
Referee: Simon Brown
Cirencester Town:
1. Glyn Garner
2. Shayne Anson (C)
3. Ellis Dunton
4. James Mortimer-Jones
5. Chris Holland
6. Jon Beedon
7. Joe Shepherd
8. Matt Liddiard
9. Will Morford
10. Steve Davies
11. Lee Smith
12. Sam Collier (on for Matt Liddiard - 68 mins)
14. Aidan Bennett (on for Steve Davies after he was injured in warm up)
15. Brad Hooper (on for Chris Holland - 45 mins)
16. Dean Bromley
17. Jody Bevan
Bridgwater Town:
1. Chris Wright
2. Kristian Miller
3. Phil Veal
4. Bradley Middleton (C)
5. Chris McGrath
6. James Pilling
7. Jon Vance
8. Dean Griffiths
9. Mitchell Page
10. Joe Bushin
11. Aaron Wilson
12. Graham Merceica
14. Daine O'Connor
15. Scott Thomas
16. Geraint Bater
17. Sam Alexander