Cirencester Town FC
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Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
Click photo to view a slideshow of photos from the match
Match photos supplied by Graham Hill
Once again The Centurions were on duty at The Corinium Stadium as in-form BIGGLESWADE TOWN came to visit for the reverse of the seasons opening day fixture and after a very competitive match they returned to Bedfordshire with the 3-points.
Based on the opening day result (a goal-less draw) and examination of the ‘6-Match Form Guide’ table a tough match was in prospect as The Waders sat in 5th place with 12 points and The Centurions 2nd place with 14 points. Their league positions were 11th and 7th respectively – Biggleswade Town with 22 points from 14 games played and Cirencester 25 points from 16 games. The visitors are also unbeaten in their last 11 games.
The Cirencester starting eleven had some changes from last week’s match against Harlow Town – as Josh Nelmes (suspended) and Reegan Messenger (injury) returned and new recruit Andy Lewis came into the side for his debut (having signed in mid-week) to replace Jay Simpson (illness).
The home side kicked off, playing towards The Shed end of the ground and started positively as Levi Irving flicked a cross from the right flank over the bar at the near post within two minutes. A second wave was worked from right to left but ended in the corner with a goal-kick. A third attack reached the left corner but Jordan Morris’s cross was caught by ‘keeper Timmy Smith – all positive.
The Waders responded as Charlie Smith reached the right by-line and laid the ball back to Robert Parker who crossed towards the home goal – deflected for a corner kick that Smith sent into the mix in the 6-yard box. Home custodian Alex Harris punched the ball away from his goal but was bundled to the ground in the process and the ball briefly bobbed about in the box until HARRY DRAPER managed to poke it into the net from a couple of yards. 0-1.
Undeterred Cirencester immediately worked the ball to their right corner where Nick Hancock delivered a cross that passed through the Penalty Area without contact.
Cirencester then tried their left flank as Morris reached the corner, found his way blocked, and laid it back to Ellis Dunton who cut right and shot at the target from the edge of the visitors Penalty Area – caught by Smith.
The home side were pressing their opponents and with 15 minutes gone Jake Lee delivered an accurate 50 yard cross-field pass to Morris on the left flank and he galloped forward to the left-side edge of the Biggleswade box to cross but a covering defender diverted it narrowly wide of the near post for a corner kick that Joe Turley delivered to the near post where Andy Lewis darted forward to head just over the bar.
The next couple of attacks from Cirencester were down their right flank as both Hancock and Will Christopher sent crosses into the visitor’s box – without an end product.
Following this period of Cirencester pressure Biggleswade countered as they reached the right corner to set up Jon Clements but his fierce effort from the edge of the home box was parried by Harris and cleared.
Shortly after the mid-point of the half Morris once again reached the by-line before laying the ball back to Dunton who crossed to the far post for Hancock to collect and shoot – blocked for a corner kick from the right flank that was defended on the front edge of the 6-yard box and cleared to Christopher who sent it back into the danger area where Dunton headed wide of the near post.
A few minutes later another Hancock cross from the right, through the 6-yard box, reached Morris but he couldn’t get enough power on his shot to trouble Smith.
As the half entered the final 10 scheduled minutes Biggleswade began to threaten as Draper fired wide of the right post and Max Granville’s shot from the right channel front edge of the home box was blocked and cleared.
As the interval loomed a Christopher cross from the right flank was sliced by a defender into the air and as it dropped 10 yards from the visitor’s goal, in-line with the right post, Smith lost the flight and fumbled the ball but recovered before Irving could latch onto it.
The final action of the half saw Smith drive a free kick into the Cirencester wall protecting the home goal.
Half Time: 0-1
During the opening few minutes of the second half Biggleswade latched onto a sliced pass on half-way to supply Clements who fired over the target, Smith sent a free kick wide of the left post from the right flank and Jake Bunyan embarked on a run down the left flank before cutting right and shooting wide of the left post.
In between the above Irving fired over the bar after some pressure on the visitor’s defence.
From shortly before the hour mark until the mid-point of the half Cirencester pressed and had a series of corner kicks and an Irving effort cleared off the line - but no breakthrough.
Around this point some changes in personnel were made – Obi Onyeagwara replacing Harry Draper for Biggleswade and Nick Peare and Josh Parsons replacing Nick Hancock and Andy Lewis for Cirencester. This was the first outing for Josh Parsons this season having suffered a serious injury in a pre-season friendly match.
Just after the game entered the final scheduled 15 minutes a long ball from Biggleswade down their right flank was covered by Harris but left as it appeared to be going out of play but Obi Onyeagwara had other ideas and nipped it to catch it near the by-line and from the narrowest of angles shot at the goal – striking the near post and rebounding back towards him but this time he was quickly closed down and the danger cleared.
During the next ten minutes Clements headed a corner kick over the bar at the near post and Josh Nelmes a free kick wide of the far-left post.
As the whistle loomed Cirencester reached the left corner a couple of times but were denied by the well-organised and resolute visitor’s defence and it was a similar story at the home end as Nelmes produced a couple of determined tackles to deny the visitor’s progress.
Full Time: 0-1
A very competitive game with plenty of attack and counter-attack football, determined defending and goalmouth incident but the home side will undoubtedly be disappointed to see their 9-game unbeaten run end whilst the visitors move on to 12 games unbeaten.
Attendance: 143 Referee: Daniel Stokes
Cirencester Town:
1. Alex Harris
2. Will Christopher
3. Ellis Dunton
4. Joe Turley
5. Jake Lee ©
6. Josh Nelmes
7. Nick Hancock
8. Andy Lewis
9. Levi Irving
10. Reegan Messenger
11. Jordan Morris
12. Kenneth Mills
14. Nick Peare (Nick Hancock-71mins)
15. James Mortimer-Jones
16. Josh Parsons (Andy Lewis-71mins)
17. Louie Barnfather (GK)
Biggleswade Town:
1. Timmy Smith
2. Robert Parker ©
3. Daniel Brathwaite
4. Luke Middleton
5. Liam McDevitt
6. Charley O’Keefe
17. Max Granville
18. Jake Bunyan
9. Jon Clements
10. Harry Draper 7
19. Charlie Smith
16. Aaron Austin (Jon Clements-90+3mins)
13. Harry Smart (GK)
7. Marcus Gouldbourne
11. Obidinma Onyeagwara (Harry Draper-65mins)
3. Joe Howe