Cirencester Town FC
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Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
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Match Report by Dave Pyzer
Cirencester returned to League action following their successful exploits in the FA Trophy last week to face an ‘in-form’ Hungerford Town. ‘The Crusaders’ sit in 3rd place in the ‘6 Match Form Guide’ and 5th place in the Premier Division table whilst Cirencester are 24th and 18th respectively. Hungerford also knocked Cirencester out of the Red Insure League Cup in October so another difficult afternoon for the home side was anticipated but would the confidence gained from the success of last week carry over to this fixture?
The only change to the Cirencester starting eleven from the previous week was the return of Leigh Henry (following illness) at centre back in place of the injured Ben Brown.
The Centurions kicked off on a mild, dry day playing towards The Shed end of the ground with a strong diagonal wind behind them and were forced to defend for the first minute or so as the visitors attacked down their left flank but that soon changed as Cirencester pushed forward to force Hungerford to rely on counter attacks and from one such attack the speedy Alan O’Brien moved quickly down the left flank and sent a low cross towards the back post where former Centurion Nat Jarvis blazed it over the bar.
Two minutes later NAT JARVIS made up for his earlier miss as he darted in behind the home defence to meet a right wing cross from Stefan Brown and head inside the left post from 8 yards out, left of the penalty spot. 0-1.
Undeterred Cirencester continued to push forward and a long cross-field pass from Aidan Bennett, from half way, just eluded Zack Kotwica in the right corner but it was not long before the home side levelled the score – 5 minutes in fact.
Cirencester pressured Hungerford on the right and prevented attempts to clear and the ball eventually reached Matt Liddiard in the centre, 30 yards out, and he headed it back to the front edge of the penalty area where JAMES MORTIMER-JONES plucked it out of the air, turned and unleashed a superb left footed volley into the top right corner of the net with visiting ‘keeper Paul Strudley only able to admire the quality of the strike. 1-1.
Despite this setback the visitors mounted a couple of swift counters down their left flank through O’Brien and Jarvis that an alert Bennett did well to cut out near the penalty spot and front edge of the 6 yard box respectively with opponents lurking.
After the mid-point of the half Cirencester really pressed Hungerford who were finding it difficult in the strong wind to clear the ball and a sequence of Cirencester passes took the ball from left to right as Liddiard released Shayne Anson on the over-lap who exchanged passes with Zack Kotwica on the right side edge of the penalty area as he continued forward. His cross was blocked for a corner kick.
A couple of minutes later a similar sequence, from left to right, again resulted in a corner kick but Hungerford stood firm.
Just before the half hour mark Anson again found himself in the Hungerford penalty area, right side, and from a narrow angle his fierce low drive was pushed behind at the near right post for another corner kick.
This action was soon followed by a driving run from Bennett who had collected the ball 40 yards out, left channel, and as he neared the front edge of the visitor’s penalty area he struck a powerful left footed shot that Strudley managed to tip over the bar.
With the interval approaching Hungerford produced a break down their left flank as Jarvis carried the ball towards the corner before crossing to the right flank for James Clark to collect but his cross was cleared to the left of the penalty spot.
Cirencester were awarded a free kick on their right flank that Kotwica sent to the left side of the visitor’s penalty area for Charlie Griffin to collect, turn and shoot inches wide of the right post.
As the home side pressed in the final minutes of the half they were awarded a throw-in in the left corner which signalled the call-up of Ellis Dunton to launch it into the penalty area where it bobbled about, was cleared, recovered and sent back to Dunton who delivered a low cross that Leigh Henry collected on the centre front edge of the penalty area, turned and shot – again wide of the right post.
The final action of the half was another O’Brien break and cross from the left that reached Brown at the back post but once again Bennett was on hand to block his effort.
Half Time: 1 – 1
After all the possession and pressure Cirencester had in the first half it looked as if they were not destined to score but within two minutes of the re-start they were awarded a penalty kick when Griffin released Kotwica on a run down the left flank. Kotwica carried the ball into the corner beat the first man on the bye-line and drove into the box where he fell to ground in the second challenge and the penalty was awarded.
Charlie Griffin stepped up to take the kick but had to dig a hole to place the ball in to stop it being blown away in the strong wind and when he eventually took the kick Strudley guessed correctly and dived to his right to parry the effort but ROSS LANGWORTHY reacted the quickest to get to the loose ball and drive it inside the right post from about two yards out. 2-1.
During the next few minutes Hungerford were awarded a couple of free kicks but courageous defending to produce blocks kept them out.
As the hour mark of the match approached Bennett made a driving run down the home left flank to the corner and crossed to the back post for Kotwica to attempt a header but his contact was not firm enough to cause any danger and the visitor’s countered down their left flank.
Nearing the mid-point of the half Cirencester had the chance to increase their lead as Langworthy fed Kotwica on half way, right side, and he sped down the right channel towards goal, drawing the remaining defender towards him, before slipping the ball left to Griffin in space 25 yards out, left channel. The experienced striker took the ball to the front edge of the area and fired his shot towards the inside of the right post but Strudley managed to get down to his left to save.
Just after the mid-point of the half there was a moment of controversy as Hungerford were awarded a free kick on their right flank that O’Brien took, left footed, and curled inside the far left post. The Referee, Christopher Kidd, disallowed the ‘goal’ after consultation with his Assistant much to the annoyance of the visitor’s team, bench and supporters. It is not clear to this reporter whether it was due to offside, obstruction, or if it was in fact an indirect free kick that entered the net without a touch from any other player.
Whatever the reason it certainly fired up the Hungerford team as within ten minutes they had levelled the score.
A speculative ball from the Hungerford right to the area in front of the Cirencester 6 yard box was not cleared or gathered and STEFAN BROWN was on hand to bundle it over the line. 2-2.
Three minutes later Hungerford took the lead and scored what was to prove to be the winning goal when a cross-field pass from the right reached O’Brien on the left. As he moved towards the side edge of the area his opponent lost his footing creating the opportunity for the winger to cross towards the front edge of the 6 yard box where NAT JARVIS displayed his predatory instinct to dart in front of the defenders to head inside the left post. 2-3.
With two minutes of normal time remaining Connor Thompson laid the ball back to Dunton on the right flank and he crossed the ball to Griffin, left of the penalty spot. As the visitors rushed at Griffin to block any effort he might make he slipped it to Langworthy, nearer the penalty spot, and they quickly move towards him but his effort was just wide of the right post.
Hungerford then successfully ran down the clock in the right corner of the Cirencester half to complete their victory and take the three points.
Final Score: 2 - 3
A disappointing result for Cirencester who had battled well throughout but did not convert the pressure into goals when they were on top in the first half.
Performances are improving and hopefully a positive result is not too far away if they can maintain the effort displayed in the last few games.
Hungerford showed their resilience and why they are in the play-off places.
Attendance: 101
Referee: Christopher Kidd
Cirencester Town:
1. Glyn Garner
2. Shayne Anson
3. Aidan Bennett
4. Ellis Dunton
5. Ross Langworthy 48
6. Leigh Henry (C)
7. Matt Liddiard
8. James Mortimer-Jones 21
9. Charlie Griffin
10. Ollie Knight
11. Zack Kotwica
12. Brad Hooper
14. Adam Connolly
15. Connor Thompson (Ollie Knight-75mins)
Hungerford Town:
1. Paul Strudley
2. Gary Horgan
3. Rhys Tyler
4. Jon Boardman
5. Matt Day (C)
6. James Rusby
7. James Clark
8. Ian Herring
9. Nat Jarvis 16, 81
10. Stefan Brown 78
11. Alan O’Brien
12. Harry Goodger (Gary Horgan-66mins)
14. Mark Draycott
15. Mike Jones
16. Diak John
17. Dean Stow (Alan O’Brien-83mins)