Cirencester Town FC
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Match Report by Dave Pyzer
Kettering Town were the latest visitors to The Corinium Stadium for a mid-week league fixture that was also being used as a fund raiser for the Macmillan Cancer Support Charity with eight local Companies sponsoring the game and supporters donating their entry fee to the charity.
‘The Poppies’ currently sit in 10th position in the Premier Division table and 8th in the ‘6-match form guide’ whilst Cirencester are 18th and 24th respectively.
Cirencester fielded an unchanged eleven from the match on Saturday against Hungerford Town and this enabled Aidan Bennett to make his 150th start for the team. Jamie Reid took a seat on the bench as he returned from his long term knee injury to join Brad Hooper and Adam Connolly.
Kettering kicked off playing towards the Arena end of the ground in typical cool evening conditions and for once the strong wind that has been a feature of recent games was absent. Within the first minute Cirencester had the ball and fed Charlie Griffin some 40 yards out down the right channel of the pitch and he turned and fired a shot over the bar.
Neither side retained possession for long during the next few minutes but it was Kettering who created an opening as right back Liam Bateman charged down the right flank before cutting inside and carrying the ball across the pitch to the left front edge of the home penalty area where he slipped it to James Brighton. The wide man took it down the side edge of the area to the bye-line before crossing but it was comfortably caught by Glyn Garner.
Cirencester responded with a couple of passing moves that saw them swiftly move down the pitch - the second of which saw Aidan Bennett feed Zack Kotwica (just inside the Kettering half) and he played it in behind Bateman for Ollie Knight to collect and take to the left corner before sending a low cross towards the front edge of the 6 yard box where Ross Langworthy darted forward to place an effort wide of the left post whilst under pressure.
As the mid-point of the half approached Kettering were enjoying more possession and during this period they had an appeal for a penalty rejected by Referee Adam Matthews. The lively Wilson Carvalho had a couple of runs down the right wing that resulted in crosses from the corner and one passed through the Cirencester penalty area to reach Brighton on the left and he laid the ball back to a supporting Herve Pepe who slipped it to his right for an advanced Bateman to blaze high of the target from 20 yards, right channel.
Just after the mid-point there was a delay as Griffin required treatment from the team’s physio, Lisa Vicat, and the decision was taken to replace him. As a result Adam Connolly came on in midfield and Ross Langworthy moved forward to the central striker role.
Kettering produced some intricate passing around the front edge of the Cirencester penalty area but could not find a way through and were repelled by the home defence who countered with a quick break from Kotwica who cut inside from the right and fired a low left footed shot from 25 yards, right channel, that Craig Hill did well to save.
Thirty minutes into the game Kotwica collected a ball in the left channel, just inside the Kettering half, and played a superb pass with the outside of his right foot that curled behind the right back for Knight to collect on the run in the left corner where he immediately crossed low and hard towards the penalty spot but Hill had spotted the danger and managed to get to it before a rapidly closing Langworthy.
As the half entered the final ten minutes Cirencester won a throw-in on the right flank that Matt Liddiard delivered to Kotwica who turned and moved left before sending a fierce left footed shot that Hill tipped over the bar for a corner kick. Ellis Dunton got on the end of the kick but his header cleared the bar.
A couple of minutes later Dunton was in the action again but this time in his own penalty area as Carvalho crossed from the right corner he stretched to intercept with his head resulting in the ball going downwards and bouncing back up towards the top right corner. Fortunately Garner displayed incredible reflexes to tip the ball over his bar.
As the clock ticked towards the interval Cirencester mounted an attack down their right flank as Liddiard fed an over-lapping Shayne Anson who took it to the corner and was awarded a free kick that Kotwica sent to the front edge of the 6 yard box where Leigh Henry headed over the bar.
Minutes later Elliott Sandy latched onto a long kick from Hill, left channel – 25 yards out, turned and shot at goal but his effort was deflected over the bar for a corner kick that was cleared.
The last penalty area action of the half came as Bennett sent a long ball down the left touch-line for Langworthy to collect and once at his feet he drove to the side edge of the visitor’s area, shimmied left and went right to go past the defender who lost his footing and on into the box to shoot towards the far right post but a covering defender managed to block his effort.
Half Time: 0 – 0
A few minutes after the break Cirencester were awarded a free kick that was driven to the right flank for Kotwica but his cross was easily caught by Hill. The sight of Kotwica taking on opponents in the right corner was to become a feature of the half.
Six minutes into the half and everything changed for the home side as a ball down the centre, behind an advanced back-line, resulted in a foot race between the speedy Carvalho and Dunton.
As the two neared the front edge of the area Dunton made a last ditch stretch to reach the ball first and play it back to Garner but in the process he took Carvalho down and whilst the ball went in the direction of Garner the Referee adjudged that he had fouled the Kettering player and as the last man awarded a Red Card to the defender.
Cirencester quickly shuffled their remaining ten players with Anson moving to centre back and Liddiard dropping to right back.
Inevitably with an extra man Kettering were able to play ‘keep-ball’ and move the direction of their attacks at will, retaining possession as they probed for an opening but the loss of Dunton had galvanised Cirencester and brought a resolve not to be beaten so the entire team, from front to back, defended as if their lives depended on it.
Several times Brighton drew Liddiard and then released the ball to an over-lapping Chris Carruthers but Anson, Mortimer-Jones or Connolly covered until Liddiard was back in position.
From one such overlap Carruthers fed Sandy near the penalty spot but under pressure he shot wide of the right post.
Whilst Cirencester were defending resolutely they were also dangerous on the break with the pace of Langworthy and Knight and the trickery combined with pace of Kotwica proving troublesome for the visitors as they pushed forward.
Twenty minutes into the half the Kotwica/Langworthy combination provided the breakthrough as Kotwica collected the ball on half way, right channel, and made ground to the right corner, beat the first defender with quick footed trickery and as two others closed on him he sent a perfect cross to the back post where ROSS LANGWORTHY darted in to head inside the left post. 1-0.
Two minutes later Kotwica had four Kettering players round him in the right corner but somehow he managed to work his way to the front edge of the area and get a left footed shot away that was blocked.
In between the counter attacks Cirencester were working very hard to prevent Kettering having a clear sight of goal and once won or blocked they would release the ball forward for their eager strikers to break. Six minutes after the goal Kotwica received the ball on half way and broke down the centre with Knight to his left and Langworthy to his right for a 3 v 2. He drew a defender and released the ball to his left for Knight, in space down the left channel, and the youngster advanced towards the penalty area and took aim but Hill managed to save with his legs.
Spurred into action Kettering attacked down the left through Brighton who crossed from the corner to Liam Canavan who struck a left footed volley into the grateful arms of Garner from left of the penalty spot.
Shortly afterwards Kotwica was at it again as he broke down the centre before moving right and a slight misunderstanding between him and Langworthy meant the pass to Langworthy was too far ahead for Langworthy to collect.
With seven minutes of normal time remaining James Mortimer-Jones won the ball on the Cirencester left flank and played it down the line to Knight who sped to the bye-line before pulling it back behind a covering defender for Kotwica to collect but he was quickly surrounded by three Kettering players who managed to win the ball.
A couple of minutes later Sandy had a pot at goal from 25 yards but it cleared the bar and in time-added-on they finally got the ball in the net through Canavan but the flag was up for offside.
The final action came when Kettering won a corner kick and this prompted a last throw of the dice as ‘keeper Hill joined the rest of his team-mates in the Cirencester penalty area but once again the home defence blocked any attempts on goal.
Final Score: 1 - 0
It has to be said this was a terrific performance and result for Cirencester as their last victory was against St. Neots on the 3rd of October. They had only won 1 point in their last seven league matches and the manner of the victory was tremendous being built on team spirit, character and a never-say-die attitude.
Absolutely every player played their part – let us hope this is a turning point for our league season.
Attendance: 225
Referee: Adam Matthews
Cirencester Town:
1. Glyn Garner
2. Shayne Anson
3. Aidan Bennett
4. Ellis Dunton
5. Ross Langworthy 65
6. Leigh Henry (C)
7. Matt Liddiard
8. James Mortimer-Jones
9. Charlie Griffin
10. Ollie Knight
11. Zack Kotwica
12. Brad Hooper (Ross Langworthy-78mins)
14. Adam Connolly (Charlie Griffin-26mins)
15. Jamie Reid (Ollie Knight-86mins)
Kettering Town:
1. Craig Hill
2. Liam Bateman
3. Chris Carruthers
4. Brett Solkan (C)
5. Ollie Thorne
6. Herve Pepe
7. Wilson Carvalho
8. Gary Mulligan
9. Rene Howe
10. Elliott Sandy
11. James Brighton
12. Courtney Baker-Richarson (James Brighton-78mins)
14. Liam Canavan (Herve Pepe-68mins)
15. Will Grocott (Ollie Thorne-56mins)
16. Dom Langdon
17. Ben Stephens