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
The comparatively short journey into Oxfordshire, to meet long-time adversaries Didcot Town on their home patch, was the destination for The Centurions and after a hard-fought battle they succumbed to another ‘added-time’ goal to return empty handed.
Examination of the statistics prior to the game revealed that the sides were well matched as, based on the ‘6-Match Form Guide’ table, Didcot sat in 6th place with 11 points from their last 6 games and Cirencester 7th place with 10 points. The league positions for the sides shows Didcot in 3rd place with 56 points from 31 games played and Cirencester 7th with 48 points from 30 games. The reverse fixture at The Corinium Stadium in October resulted in a 2-0 victory for the home side.
The starting eleven saw one change from the side that secured victory against Ware last week as Goalkeeping Coach Kevin Sawyer stepped into the breach to replace the unavailable Alex Harris.
Levi Irving returned to take a seat on the bench - having been unavailable since he sustained an ankle injury at the beginning of March against Berkhamsted.
The home side kicked off proceedings on a soft surface, following the incessant rain of recent days, and immediately attacked down their right flank and as this was repelled there followed a bout of ‘head-tennis’ on the half-way line until the home side worked the worked the ball from deep in their half, right flank, to their left flank and back.
Three minutes into the game Didcot fashioned the first threat on goal as Joshua Hedges received the ball near the right post, turned sharply, and fired over the bar.
Cirencester responded by working the ball down their right flank before conceding a throw-in that led to Hedges slipping the ball through to Jenson Wright and on to Seth Humphries as he darted to the left front corner of the Cirencester box where Jake Lee came across to clear the danger.
Once again Cirencester worked their right flank as Adulai Sambu and Will Christopher combined to good effect as they made ground but they too were repelled by the home defence.
Cirencester then switched play from right to left as Aidan Bennett supplied Reegan Messenger who reached the by-line but his resulting cross was blocked and rebounded off him for a goal-kick.
With ten minutes on the clock Cirencester tried their right flank as Sambu, centre circle, slipped the ball to Christopher as he charged down the flank to the corner tracked by James Glover and once again a goal-kick was the result.
A minute later Connor Barrett received the ball on the right touchline, 35 yards from goal, cut left and moved forward before shooting wide of the far left post.
The visitors responded as Messenger slid the ball down the left channel for Bennett to collect and cross from the by-line to the back post where Sambu was arriving at pace but he lost his footing on the soft surface as he attempted to change direction.
Shortly afterwards Adam Learoyd launched the ball down the centre, over the Cirencester back line for Humphries to chase, but Lee, facing his own goal, managed to keep an eye on the ball as it came over his head and nod it back to his ‘keeper, Kevin Sawyer.
A couple of minutes later Wright, Humphries and Barrett combined to release Samuel Barder to the right by-line where his cross was blocked for a corner kick that was delivered to the edge of the 6-yard box where a header was deflected for Sawyer to pounce on the loose ball.
Cirencester replied as Bennett chased a ball to the left corner, bringing ‘keeper Leigh Bedwell from his area to clear, but it was recycled to the left corner and worked inside as Sambu slipped it to Bennett who laid it off to Joe Turley, left of centre 25 yards out, and he fired over the bar.
In this ‘end-to-end’ game Humphries supplied Barrett, left to Hedges who reached the left channel of the Cirencester box before crossing – Andy Lewis blocked the cross with the ball rebounding into the air for Josh Nelmes to head back to Sawyer.
Shortly after the half-hour mark the industrious Glover won and retained the ball in two strong challenges before slipping it through the Cirencester back line for Hedges to collect and cross but Sawyer intercepted.
Cirencester continued to work their flanks and whilst they reached the corners the move often ended with a goal-kick without really threatening the home goal.
The home side also tried crosses into the box but these were comfortably dealt with by the Cirencester defence.
Half Time: 0-0
Both defences had certainly been on top during the first half but would it continue after the break?
The answer was “Yes” as play continued in much the same way although getting quicker as the game progressed.
A few minutes into the half Lee battled for possession near half-way, right flank, before passing it on to Nelmes and on to Ellis Dunton who sent it down the left channel to Messenger who controlled it on his chest before returning it to Dunton as his path was blocked. Forward to Bennett but lost.
As Cirencester worked the ball forward again it was intercepted and fed to Barrett, near the right front corner of the Cirencester box, and he dummied to go left but went right to shoot wide of the near post.
Shortly before the hour mark Cirencester introduced Levi Irving to the contest and re-arranged as Bennett moved to the left flank and Messenger moved into a more central role.
Within a minute of the change Cirencester were awarded a free kick on their right flank that eventually resulted in a deep cross to the back post and a header from Nelmes that passed narrowly over the bar.
Almost immediately the ball was at the other end as Barrett received, lost, regained and shot with a deflection taking it wide of the far post for a corner kick that was cleared by Bennett.
Just after the hour mark Cirencester produced a neat move as Irving , Bennett, Messenger and Sambu combined to supply Christopher who crossed towards the far left post from his flank and this brought an important save from Bedwell as he pushed the dipping ball away from his post to be collected by Irving who crossed back into the mix where Joe Shepherd headed wide of the right post.
A couple of minutes later Cirencester worked their right flank to reach the corner for Christopher to supply Irving, back to Sambu who delivered it to the Penalty Spot where Shepherd and Messenger each thought the other was going to shoot enabling the danger to be cleared.
At the mid-point of the half Cirencester were pressing hard and after Sambu closed in on Bedwell his clearance was hurried and eventually was supplied to Sambu, near the left channel front edge of the home box, but his strike was not as firm as he would have liked and Bedwell was able to save.
Cirencester quickly returned to the left flank as Irving and Bennett exchanged passes to reach the corner but the alert Glover had spotted the danger and came across to concede a throw-in.
As the game entered the final scheduled 15 minutes the ball was launched to the left corner for Hedges to collect and cut inside – his shot was blocked as was Wright’s but it was collected by Barrett and he shot wide of the left post.
The game was getting quicker with neither side able to retain the ball for long whilst pushing forward at every opportunity.
As the 90-minute mark was reached Didcot attacked to the right corner, resulting in a throw-in that Barder supplied to Hedges, on to Harry Evans, back to Barder, left to Wright (centre front edge of the box), right to Harley Giles who advanced, dummied to shoot before slipping the ball down the right channel for Hedges to collect and cross from the by-line towards the near post where JENSON WRIGHT managed to get his head to it, as he fell backwards, with the ball looping into the top right corner to claim the vital 3 points.
Full Time: 1-0
A disappointing end to the contest from a Cirencester perspective, when taking into account the possession and effort of their performance, as the match had been keenly fought by both sides throughout - but that’s football.
Attendance: 262 Referee: Neal Templey
Didcot Town:
1. Leigh Bedwell
2. Samuel Barder
3. Jamar Smith
4. Benjamin Putland
5. Harley Giles
6. Adam Learoyd ©
7. Jenson Wright 90+1
8. James Glover
9. Seth Humphries
10. Connor Barrett
11. Joshua Hedges
12. Adam Smith (Seth Humphries-74mins)
14. Harry Evans (Connor Barrett-88mins)
15. James Taylor
16. Alfie Rouse
17. McKenzie Hedges
Cirencester Town:
1. Kevin Sawyer
2. Will Christopher
3. Ellis Dunton
4. Joe Turley
5. Jake Lee ©
6. Josh Nelmes
7. Adulai Sambu
8. Andrew Lewis
9. Aidan Bennett
10. Joe Shepherd
11. Reegan Messenger
12. Kenneth Mills
14. Nick Peare
15. Nick Hancock
16. Levi Irving (Andy Lewis-56mins)
17. James Mortimer-Jones