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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Following another long cross country trek The Centurions faced ‘in-form’ Hertford Town and after conceding an early goal they were unable to pull it back despite plenty of possession and effort.
Examination of the ‘6-Match Form Guide’ table prior to the game revealed that the team’s records over that period were identical, both having obtained 9 points, but Hertford were in 6th place in the table (due to a better goal difference) and Cirencester 7th. Hertford could be considered to be ‘in-form’ as they had secured their three wins in their last four games whilst two of Cirencester’s wins had come before they suffered defeats to Berkhamsted and Didcot.
Hertford were in 15th place in the league table and Cirencester 9th.
The Cirencester starting eleven had a couple of changes from the side that took to the pitch at Didcot Town as Alex Harris returned in goal and Levi Irving to the front line with Andy Lewis making way for the striker.
The visitors kicked-off proceedings in perfect conditions for football, on their impressive new 3G pitch at Hertingfordbury Park, and immediately pressed down their left flank as Ellis Dunton sent the ball down the channel for Reegan Messenger to collect and fire a low shot towards the left post where ‘keeper Luke Mewitt dived to push it wide for a corner kick that Joe Turley delivered to the far post. This time Mewitt punched it away for another corner kick from the right flank and eventually it was recycled to Dunton who crossed it to the far-right post where Joe Shepherd headed wide of the target.
Cirencester were soon back again as they were awarded a free kick that was delivered to the Penalty Spot where Mewitt caught it above the head of Jake Lee.
It had been a very positive start for the visitors but in the 6th minute the home side mounted an attack down their left flank as David Ogbonna made ground from half way before slipping the ball inside to Omer Riza, right of centre 25 yards out, and he produced a clever ‘chip’ into the path of a charging ISAAC PEDRO as he burst into the Cirencester box to smash it into the roof of the net from 15 yards, right channel. 1-0.
Undaunted Cirencester worked their right flank for the next few minutes as Adulai Sambu and Will Christopher combined – the former withstanding several challenges to retain the ball and the latter delivering a cross that Mewitt caught at full stretch.
The home side responded as Jesse Waller Lassen slid the ball down their right channel for Riza to collect and cross from the by-line but ‘keeper Harris safely gathered at his left post.
Cirencester continued to press down both flank as Shepherd collected, in the left channel of the home box, but as he turned sharply Mewitt pounced on the ball and then some neat play on the other flank resulted in a low cross from Sambu that passed along the edge of the home 6-yard box without contact to be cleared.
At the mid-point of the half Messenger battled for the ball in the right corner to supply Sambu who was fouled as he cut left towards the home Penalty Area – the resulting free kick was punched away by Mewitt but collected by Shepherd who fired over the bar from the edge of the box.
During the next few minutes Hertford responded as Lee blocked a Riza shot and Ogbonna released Joshua Bryant to the left corner for a low cross to Riza, right to Sudayisi Sendege who crossed to the far-left post where Christopher headed it to Sambu and he began a charging run down the right channel chased by Pedro. The home player finally brought his progress to a halt just outside the Penalty Area and a counter attack followed as Sendege cut inside from the right flank to shoot wide of the far-left post.
Cirencester pressed again as Aidan Bennett and Levi Irving combined for the latter to cross to Sambu and on to Messenger, back to Christopher but his cross was intercepted by Ogbonna.
On the half-hour Sendege had a run down the right flank before cutting left to shoot well over the bar.
Once again Cirencester responded as Irving, Bennett and Dunton combined before the ball was worked to Bennett – shot blocked to Shepherd and his shot was saved by Mewitt diving to his left.
A free kick from just outside the home box soon followed as they worked the ball down the centre for Turley to be upended – Shepherd drove it narrowly wide of the left post.
A few minutes later Cirencester worked the ball from left to right where Sambu had an effort blocked before he crossed to the far-left post and Bennett headed wide.
As the interval approached Waller Lassen exchanged passes with Riza before shooting for Harris to save.
Almost immediately the ball was back at the Hertford end of the pitch as Dunton crossed from the left corner for Mewitt to catch near his left post above the head of Sambu who took a knock in the process.
Half Time: 1-0
After the interval the home side started very positively as they sent the ball to the left corner from the kick-off and when Cirencester worked it clear it was lost for Conor Clarke to make a driving 40-yard run down his right flank before sending it back to the left corner.
A minute later Ogbonna cut inside from the left front corner of the visitor’s box and this resulted in some frantic action near the edge of the box before it was finally cleared to return a couple of minutes later as Riza fired straight at Harris.
Hertford were soon back again but lost the ball in their left corner and it was quickly switched by Cirencester to their left flank where Dunton sent a raking 50-yard pass to Sambu on the right-side edge of the home box and he crossed towards the left post where Bennet volleyed over the bar from a few yards.
Cirencester continued to press as they reached the right corner several times during the next few minutes but without the breakthrough they were searching for.
Hertford countered with a deep cross from Clarke that reached Ogbonna at the far-left post who headed back to Pedro who blazed over the bar.
Almost immediately Cirencester replicated the home sides move as Irving crossed from the left to the back post where Sambu headed back to Messenger and he fired over the target.
Shortly before the hour mark Irving made a driving run down the left channel into the home box but instead of shooting he elected to pass to his left to Bennett and the pass was intercepted for Hertford to mount an attack of their own.
A couple of minutes later Cirencester increased the pressure as Bennett’s cross from the right was headed out by Clarke for a corner kick from the left flank. The kick from Turley reached Josh Nelmes who headed goalwards but the resulting block returned it to him as he fell and he managed to strike the ball with his right foot back at the target where it was blocked on the line for a corner kick from the right flank. This time Turley delivered the kick to the Penalty Spot where Lee headed goalwards – cleared off the line again for another corner kick from the right that was cleared to be re-cycled to the left flank and worked inside for Shepherd to shoot with his effort being diverted for another corner kick that passed through the home 6-yard box without contact for a goal-kick.
Cirencester continued to press but it was looking like it just wasn’t their day as the home side survived and around the 75-minute mark Hertford countered as Ogbonna displayed some great control as he darted into the Cirencester box, evading tackles in the process, to slip the ball to Riza, back to Ogbonna, forward to Pedro – Offside – danger ended.
During the next 10 minutes Bennett had a header cleared, Hertford survived a corner kick and Nick Peare fired over and at the 89th minute mark Ogbonna wriggled through to the left by-line before ‘scooping’ the ball over the bar.
In ‘added-time’ Cirencester pressed to reach both corners for throw-ins but once again Hertford survived to take the 3 points on offer.
Full Time: 1-0
A dominant performance from The Centurions as they worked hard in search of a foothold in the game after conceding the early goal.
Cirencester found the Hertford defence in determined mood – well marshalled by Ben Herd – and it was probably one of those games that they would not have scored in if they had played for another couple of hours - such is football.
Attendance: 233 Referee: Michael Smith
Hertford Town:
1. Luke Mewitt
2. Conor Clarke
3. Joshua Bryant
4. Benjamin Herd
5. Harry Gilzean
6. Charlie Payne
7. Sudayisi Sendege
8. Isaac Pedro © 6
9. Omer Riza
10. Jesse Waller Lassen
11. David Ogbonna
12. Billy Mardell-Smith (Charlie Payne-77mins)
14. Oluwatamilore Ogunnowo (Sudayisi Sendege-87mins)
15. Harrison Datta
16. Eduard Toiny-Pendred (Omer Riza-82mins)
17. Dontai Stewart
Cirencester Town:
1. Alex Harris
2. Will Christopher
3. Ellis Dunton
4. Joe Turley
5. Jake Lee ©
6. Josh Nelmes
7. Adulai Sambu
8. Reegan Messenger
9. Levi Irving
10. Joe Shepherd
11. Aidan Bennett
12. Kenneth Mills
14. Andrew Lewis (Joe Turley-87mins)
15. Nick Peare (Reegan Messenger-72mins)
16. James Mortimer-Jones
17. Nick Hancock (Will Christopher-87mins)