Cirencester Town FC
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Match Report by Dave Pyzer
‘The Centurions’ made the comparatively short journey to Didcot to face ‘The Railwaymen’ and went down 3-0 to end their interest in cup competitions for this season.
The two sides have met many times over the years but this season Didcot are performing in the Central Division due to the re-shuffle brought about by the introduction of an extra Premier Division in the National pyramid re-structure.
In terms of current form Didcot have only played 8 league games so far this season, obtaining 10 points from them, whilst Cirencester have played 9 and obtained 16 points.
Both sides took the opportunity to give ‘squad’ players a game - Didcot opened with six players that started their last match and introduced Brandon Vickery-Taverner (on loan for a month from Oxford United) to their fans for his debut whilst Cirencester opened with seven from Saturday’s match against Thatcham Town. Ellis Dunton (missed Saturday’s game due to injury) and Jordan Morris (unavailable) took up positions in defence, Jack Freeman started in midfield and Aidan Bennett as central striker.
The match was played in cool conditions on a soft pitch that caused both sets of players a few problems, as they sometimes struggled to maintain balance, but still produced an ‘end-to-end’, open first half as the teams sought to gain control.
Within the first five minutes Cirencester had two forays into the home penalty area as Henry Spalding slipped the ball through to Aidan Bennett as he entered the left channel to fire wide of the right post and then Spalding sent a deep free kick from the right flank to the far post but just too high for the closing Alex Albert to reach so neither troubled ‘keeper Leigh Bedwell.
Didcot responded as they attacked down their left flank but lost the ball for Cirencester to switch play to their left flank where Jordan Morris (playing at left back) made the first of many charging runs down the line, exchanging passes with Spalding to reach the corner. His cross from the by-line resulted in a corner kick that was played short enabling Mike Pook to cut-in and shoot towards the left post where Bedwell made the save.
Shortly afterwards Cirencester were awarded a free kick on their right flank and when Pook sent it into the home area the resulting defensive header dropped at the feet of Ellis Dunton, left channel of the area, and he immediately fired at the target but it was blocked in the centre of the goalmouth and cleared.
Three minutes later Dunton was doing the blocking himself as he headed out a cross after Didcot had worked the ball forward from left to right and back again.
As the mid-point of the half was approaching Didcot enjoyed a good spell as Callum McNish intercepted a pass, centrally 35 yards out, to move forward 10 yards before shooting at the right post where Mat Wieczorek dived to save.
This was soon followed by Seth Humphries collecting a clever reverse pass into the right corner by Brandon Vickery-Taverner but his cross was too long and then the ‘on-loan’ striker collected a pass just outside the Cirencester area, right channel, cut left and shot wide of the right post.
During this period Didcot were also denied when Wieczorek charged out of his area to clear a ball over the top of his defensive back line.
As the half entered the final 15 minutes it was Cirencester that began to press more often but careless passing often ended their progress and from one such pass Humphries released Vickery-Taverner into the left channel of the visitors area and he unleashed a fierce left footed shot that Wieczorek did well to parry before dropping on the loose ball.
Six minutes later Spalding collected the ball, left channel – 35 yards out, and began a jinking run that enabled him to glide past several would be challenges to enter the home area but as he lined up his shot the ball ‘bobbled’ and he shot narrowly over the top left corner of the goal – what a chance to take the lead.
Cirencester nearly paid the price when a cross from the Didcot left flank reached Brett Gardner after Morris’s feet slipped from under him as he jumped to head clear but the defender quickly recovered to block the cross from the right by-line.
On the stroke of half-time Didcot did finally break through when Sam Barder played a clever ball down the right flank for Humphries to collect in the corner and he sent a low cross to the front edge of the 6 yard box where BRANDON VICKERY-TAVERNER arrived to finish from a few yards.
Half Time: 1-0
The home side came out very positively for the second half as Gardner and McNish combined on the left to enable the latter to send a cross towards the far post where Caelan Isaac was arriving but was unable to make good contact with his head.
Three minutes into the half Tommy Ouldridge, who had been on the receiving end of a strong challenge in the first half, had to leave the pitch after he had battled for the ball.
As Didcot continued to press they were awarded a corner kick from the left that reached Luke Carnell’s head but his effort was blocked and cleared.
Back came the home side with further efforts from McNish, Humphries and Vickery-Taverner and after 11 minutes there was a 3 minute delay as ‘keeper Wieczorek received treatment before leaving the contest to be replaced by Alan Griffin who took over between the sticks.
Despite these setbacks Cirencester mounted a counter attack down their left flank just after the hour mark when Bennett released Morris to the by-line and his cross was flicked onto the underside of the bar by Ben Whitehead from the edge of the 6 yard box and cleared as it dropped near the goal-line.
Shortly afterwards there was another lengthy delay when young Isaac was caught by a flailing arm in a challenge that earned Alex Albert a Yellow Card. The youngster was prone for some time and left the pitch looking very dazed. We offer our best wishes to him and hope he has since fully recovered and continues to develop his football career.
As the mid-point of the half arrived Cirencester began to string a few moves together - a corner kick on the left led to a Pook volley wide of the right post, a quick turn and shot from Jack Freeman brought a low save from Bedwell and Morris fired over the bar after a neat move involving Griffin, Spalding and Whitehead.
Cirencester were pressing to get back on terms with their hosts and as is often the case they were caught out by a long ball down the centre that DAVID MURPHY chased and collected near the front edge of the Cirencester area and he showed great composure to ‘chip’ the advancing Griffin.
As the 88th minute arrived Cirencester were awarded a free kick in the right corner that Freeman delivered to the far post where Albert rose to head down and as it bounced back up Bedwell made the save.
A minute later another long ball down the right channel was chased by SETH HUMPHRIES who managed to round the closing Griffin and from a narrow angle slide the ball inside the far left post to put the game to bed.
In the final minutes Cirencester pushed forward in search of a consolation goal but were unable to break through.
Full Time: 3-0
A disappointing result and score-line after Saturday’s magnificent performance.
GOOD LUCK to Didcot in the next round.
Attendance: 85
Referee: Grzegorz Kornasiewicz
DIDCOT TOWN:
1. Leigh Bedwell
2. Sam Barder (C)
3. Cameron McNeill
4. Michael Alexis
5. Luke Carnell
6. Callum Young
7. Caelan Isaac
8. Callum McNish
9. Brandon Vickery-Turner 44
10. Seth Humphries 89
11. Brett Gardner
12. Lewis Hayden (Michael Alexis-84mins)
14. Ollie Thomas (Brett Gardner-84mins)
15. David Murphy (Caelan Isaac-65mins) 84
16. Morgan Williams
17. Matthew Crowther (GK)
CIRENCESTER TOWN:
1. Matt Wieczorek
2. Will Christopher
3. Jordan Morris
4. Michael Pook
5. Alexandru Albert
6. Ellis Dunton
7. Tommy Anderson
8. Tommy Ouldridge
9. Aidan Bennett (C)
10. Jack Freeman
11. Henry Spalding
12. Ben Whitehead (Tommy Ouldridge-49mins)
14. Alan Griffin (Matt Wieczorek-59mins)
15. Louis Spalding
16. James Mortimer-Jones