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 made the short journey to near neighbours Fairford Town for their 3rd pre-season friendly match and two quick goals shortly after the half-time interval provided a three goal ‘cushion’ to secure victory for The Centurions.
On a cool evening Cirencester kicked off proceedings on a lush but firm pitch and almost immediately were put under pressure as their hosts attacked down their right flank when Ian Herring sent a 30 yard pass from the centre circle to John Watson as he advanced towards the corner (a regular occurrence in the first half) resulting in a throw-in for Fairford followed by a free kick.
The home side had started the match in confident mood and were comfortable keeping possession as indicated a few minutes later when Watson advanced again exchanged passes with Christian Turner-Williams, back to Robbie James, left to Ben Saunders who was fouled as Cirencester attempted to get the ball.
During this opening ten minute spell Cirencester had been forced on the back-foot and the first promising signs of offensive action came when Roger James laid the ball back to Ellis Dunton who clipped a pass down the centre to Aidan Bennett and he in turn slipped it to Ben Hands who was quickly closed down to prevent any further progress.
A couple of minutes later Dunton delivered another pass inside the full back for James to chase into the home box where ‘keeper Ben Mitchell was quickly out to collect.
As the first ‘Drinks Break’ approached the game was more even with a Ross Langworthy header being caught by ‘keeper Alex Harris following a Turner-Williams cross from the right flank and a Hands shot deflected for a corner kick for the visitors.
The opening quarter had been very competitive and it continued in like fashion after the break.
A feature of the first half was Fairford working the ball down their right flank, drawing Cirencester across the pitch, before they switched it to Nick Stanley who was often in oceans of space on the left flank and he in turn would advance or slide it down the line for Langworthy, Harvey Scholes or Charlie Bailey to collect and as a result Tom Handley was kept very busy defending his flank.
Mid-way through the second quarter Dunton delivered another through ball towards Bennett on the burst down the right channel and this resulted in a hurried clearance from Mitchell near the edge of his box.
Cirencester broke the deadlock a few minutes later when Hands slipped the ball down the right channel, behind the defensive back line, for James to collect. As the winger advanced so did ‘keeper Mitchell, managing to part block the resulting shot, but AIDAN BENNETT followed up to drive it into the net from close range as defensive cover challenged him. 0-1.
Within a minute Fairford nearly equalised as Langworthy darted to the right channel front edge of the Cirencester box to latch onto a defensive back header but his resulting lob over an advancing Harris missed the target.
Both sides pressed in the closing minutes but the defences held firm.
Half Time: 0-1
At the interval there were a couple of changes to personnel in the home side and one for the visitors and within minutes of the re-start Cirencester added to their score in strange circumstances in that after a collision there was doubt as to which side had been awarded the free kick, and as Fairford started to react thinking it was theirs it became apparent it had been awarded to Cirencester. Mike Pook took the kick from 10 yards inside his own half, right channel, and sent it to the left corner where Levi Irving chased after it to deliver a low cross to the far right post for ROGER JAMES to collect and finish from 15 yards. 0-2.
Three minutes later ROGER JAMES doubled his personal tally after a fine move involving several players – Jordan Morris forward to Irving, inside to Hands, right to Bennett, left to Irving – resulted in a cross from the left corner and as ‘keeper Sam Ayres shaped to catch the winger nipped in to intercept and fire into the empty net. 0-3.
With the need to give players ‘game time’ the remainder of the match became punctuated with substitutions and as a result it became dis-jointed but it didn’t lack effort.
Full Time: 0-3
A good work-out for the players as they strive for fitness and understanding with new team-mates.
Fairford should be pleased with their first half performance in their first match whilst Cirencester improved on Saturday’s display.
FAIRFORD TOWN:
Ben Mitchell, John Watson, Nick Stanley, Ben Saunders, Robbie James, Ian Herring, Christian Turner-Williams, Dan Bailey, Ross Langworthy, Harvey Scholes, Charlie Bailey.
Subs:- Sam Ayres, Biag Mazzotta, Danny Gudger, Jake Humphreys, Sam Farr, Kyle Parker, Miles Arnold, Jamie Read.
CIRENCESTER TOWN:
Alex Harris, Tom Handley, Jordan Morris, Mike Pook, Josh Nelmes, Ellis Dunton, Roger James, Archie Brennan, Aidan Bennett, Ben Hands, Jack Freeman.
Subs:- Levi Irving, Josh Parsons, Ross Gabriel, Tommy Anderson, Joe Turley, Lee Llewelyn, Shayne Anson,