Cirencester Town FC
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Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
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Click photo to view a slideshow of photos from the match
Match photos supplied by Graham Hill
Hamworthy United of the Wessex League - Premier Division were the latest visitors to The Corinium Stadium for a Second Qualifying Round fixture of The Emirates FA Cup and after a robust start it was the visitors that opened the scoring but within a minute the scores were level again and a few minutes later Cirencester took the lead, adding a third after the break to put them into the hat for the next round.
Once again the Cirencester squad was depleted with eight squad members unavailable - mainly through injury.
The visitors kicked off playing towards The Shed end of the ground and almost immediately were awarded a free kick that required a couple of blocks in the penalty area to clear the danger and soon afterwards there was an exchange of free kicks followed by the visitors working the ball down their right flank, and Cirencester countering through Levi Irving.
In the eighth minute Jake Lee sent a 50-yard cross-field pass, from 15 yards inside his own half – right channel, to Irving on the left side-edge of the visitor’s box and as two defenders closed in the result was the first corner kick of the match - to Cirencester.
After a couple of attacks Hamworthy were awarded a corner kick from the left that reached Connor Cocklin at the far post and his firm header brought a diving save from custodian Alex Harris.
A few minutes later Ben Whitehead pressured Cocklin at the other end of the pitch and the ball broke to Josh Parsons who fired narrowly wide of the left post from the edge of The Hammers box.
During the next fifteen minutes Hamworthy severely tested the home defence a number of times with Matty Neale, Max Wilcock and Eddie Hodge prominent and Shayne Anson was in the right place to intercept or block.
Amongst this the home side also tested the visitors defence as Whitehead struck a fierce left footed shot that looked destined for the top left corner until ‘keeper Shane Murphy intervened with a superb dive to push it around his right post. The danger from the resulting corner kick ended when Cirencester were deemed to have committed a foul.
A counter attack from Hamworthy, down their left flank, led to the first goal as Hodge reached the corner to deliver a low cross towards the 6-yard box where MATTY NEALE arrived to bundle it home at the near-post despite the attention of two defenders. 0-1.
A minute later Harris replicated the earlier Lee pass to Irving and the striker sent a low cross towards the front of the 6-yard box for JOSH PARSONS to dart forward and divert the ball with a sublime side foot contact across the goal and inside the far-right post. 1-1.
Four minutes later Cirencester took the lead as an aware Whitehead played the ball across the box, from left to right, to find JOE SHEPHERD in space, right channel – 15 yards out, and he smashed the ball inside the left post. 2-1.
During the next ten minutes Cirencester pressed their advantage with some neat pass and move football involving several players – Whitehead’s shot was blocked and Irving’s header narrowly wide at the near post - but the visitors stood firm and countered.
Ten minutes from the interval a Steve Devlin free kick, from the right-side edge of the home box, brought a low save from Harris at his left post.
Half Time: 2-1
It had been clear from the off that ‘The Hammers’ were keen to compete for every ball and it continued after the break but the half started very positively for the home side as they were awarded a couple of corner kicks in the first few minutes followed by a period of pressure as Lee and Whitehead had shots blocked resulting in a corner kick.
Undeterred by their hosts strong opening Hamworthy countered to win a corner kick that Tom Handley headed clear at the back post aided by Irving who set him free to send the ball down the left flank.
Back came Hamworthy as Hodge reached the left by-line before laying the ball back to Jack Lovell who had two shots blocked.
This action was followed by a free kick that reached Wilcock in the left channel of the home area and he twisted and turned to create space for a shot that was narrowly wide of the right post.
A Cirencester free kick from the right flank cleared the defence to be collected by Ellis Dunton near the left corner and he sent it back across goal from the by-line for Anson to head wide at the back post.
The home side were pressing more frequently and at the mid-point of the half Whitehead received the ball near the right front corner of The Hammers box and he took stock before laying the ball across the front edge of the box for an incoming LEVI IRVING to collect, produce a ‘double-shimmy’ en-route to the left channel of the area, before driving the ball inside the left post. 3-1.
Despite this setback Hamworthy continued to press forward as Devlin delivered a free kick to Lovell in the left channel of the home box but his shot was blocked for a corner kick and then a neat piece of play between Hodge and Neale was also thwarted.
Into the final quarter and a firm strike from Lovell required another fine save from Harris to push it around his right post.
In response Handley and Irving combined to reach the left channel of the visitor’s penalty area and Dunton sent a superbly weighted pass down the left flank for Irving to collect, reach the by-line and send a low cross to Parsons – blocked and cleared.
Cirencester were finishing strongly as Handley combined with Parsons who sent a low cross through the 6-yard box without contact, then Irving fed Shepherd who struck the goal-frame, soon to be followed by some intricate play in the left corner leading to a Parsons shot that was just over the top right corner of the goal and a passage of play that enabled Handley to cross to the far post where Ross Gabriel’s header towards the top right corner was saved by Murphy.
There was still time for a final effort from Hamworthy as Wilcock headed wide of the target and Hodge’s cross was cut-out.
Full Time: 3-1
A solid performance from Cirencester against hard-working opponents who certainly tested their defence whilst the home midfield and front line proved resilient and dangerous.
Attendance: 203 Referee: Andrew Hobbs
Cirencester Town:
1. Alex Harris
2. Shayne Anson
3. Tom Handley
4. Josh Nelmes
5. Jake Lee ©
6. Ellis Dunton
7. Joe Shepherd 29
8. Joe Turley
9. Ben Whitehead
10. Josh Parsons 25
11. Levi Irving 67
12. Ross Gabriel (Ben Whitehead-71mins)
14. Elliott Keightley (Josh Parsons-85mins)
15. Reegan Messenger
16. James Mortimer-Jones
17. Kevin Sawyer (GK)
Hamworthy United:
1. Shane Murphy
2. Harvey Wright
3. Chris Clarke
4. Steve Devlin
5. Connor Cocklin
6. Adam Costello
7. Eddie Hodge
8. Lee Francis ©
9. Max Wilcock
10. Matty Neale 24
20. Jack Lovell
12. Cam Munn (Steve Devlin-71mins)
14. Drew Eccott-Young
15. Jamis Filkins
16. Dec Randell
17. Tony Rolls (Harvey Wright-65mins)
18. Billy Walker
19. Maxwell Buckler