Cirencester Town FC
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Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
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A much-changed Cirencester squad made the 2-hour journey across the country to meet Barton Rovers and after another battling performance The Centurions returned with the three points.
In terms of league positions and current form prior to the match – Barton Rovers sat in 15th place in the league table with 12 points from 12 games played whilst Cirencester were in 7th place with 22 points from 15 games played. Based on current form the two sides are fairly evenly matched as Barton Rovers have secured 4 points from their last 6 games and Cirencester 6 points which places them, based on the ‘6-Match Form Guide’ table, in 18th and 13th places respectively.
Last season this fixture resulted in a 2-0 victory for Cirencester whilst the reverse fixture was 2-0 victory for Barton Rovers.
Starting Eleven – As indicated in the opening sentence Cirencester fielded a much changed starting eleven for this match as the back line had three regulars of recent weeks missing - they were without Captain and Centre Back Jake Lee (holiday), Nick Peare (one-match suspension) and Charlie Johnson (injured) and as a result George Peare (usually a striker, but has experience at Hellenic Premier League level as a centre back with Fairford Town) has been signed to cover one centre back berth and the other was taken by Cameron Walters who has been signed on loan from Cheltenham Town. The left back berth was filled by Dan Hill who returns having recovered from the injury he sustained at Frome Town in early September.
The home side kicked-off proceedings in perfect conditions as they worked the ball to the right corner to be awarded an early free kick that Lucas Kirkpatrick delivered to the back post where it was cleared to the left corner and recycled inside by Cheyce Grant and Samuel Willett before Cirencester intervened.
The Rovers were soon back again as they were awarded a couple of free kicks followed by a corner kick as Kirkpatrick reached the right by-line. He delivered the corner kick to the back post where Kai Phelan headed goalwards – caught by custodian Stuart Nelson.
The first five minutes had been all Rovers pressure but a couple of minutes later Joe Turley headed a home goal-kick to Willem Pooley, near the centre circle, and he slipped a clever ball down the centre for Ben Whitehead to cut in from the right flank to collect and fire over the home bar.
The response from The Rovers was a long ball down the right flank that Joseph Rider headed on but young Cameron Walters had read the danger and quickly came across from his flank to cover and clear back down the line.
At the 11-minute mark Cirencester were awarded a throw-in, 10 yards inside the home half, on their left flank. Dan Hill took the throw and exchanged a couple of passes with Felix Miles before the winger cut right and darted down the left channel. Ten yards further down this channel Miles cut right again before slipping the ball to the left channel front edge of the home box where BEN WHITEHEAD made an instinctive run across the pitch to collect, and as the home ‘keeper, David Saunders, advanced he expertly slipped it past him and inside the far-right post to open the scoring with a precise finish. 0-1.
A couple of minutes later Nelson punted the ball down the pitch for BEN WHITHEAD to collect and charge to the centre front edge of the home box and once again he produced another precise finish inside the right post as Saunders advanced. 0-2.
As Cirencester pressed again down their left flank to be awarded a corner kick the home side defended and cleared the ball for TAYLOR RHINEY to collect, near the right channel front edge of the Cirencester box, and from there he ‘chipped’ Nelson to reduce the arrears. 1-2.
Shortly before the mid-point of the half the tricky Grant weaved his way into the Cirencester box and his cross from the left channel resulted in a corner kick from the right that was headed down at the back post and poked towards goal where it was cleared from near the goal-line.
Cirencester reacted positively to this threat as Miles darted down the right flank to cut back and send a cross through the 6-yard box that passed wide of the left post without contact, soon to be followed by George Peare heading a home free kick away from the Cirencester box for Miles to collect before it was worked across to the right flank, via Harry Burns, Turley and Reegan Messenger, to Whitehead who cut in and fired over the target.
In the lead-up to the interval Barton pressed for all they were worth – a free kick led to a bout of head-tennis inside the Cirencester box before Grant fired over the bar, Grant then pushed the ball around Nelson but too hard resulting in a goal-kick and a Kirkpatrick free kick from the left to the centre front edge of the 6-yard box was punched clear by Nelson.
A couple of minutes before the break Ryan Neufville clipped the ball to the right corner for Rider to chase and once again Walters read the danger to cover and concede a corner kick that Burns headed clear.
The final action of the half was a speculative shot at goal from Oliver Trott that required Nelson to dive to his left to save.
Half Time: 1-2
The home side had certainly enjoyed much of the possession during the first half against their make-shift visitors who had stuck to their task with determination and looked dangerous with their limited possession.
The third quarter was much more even as Kirkpatrick sent an early cross through the visitors 6-yard box and past the right post without contact.
A few minutes later Miles produced a weaving run as he cut in from the left flank before slipping the ball to Whitehead, left to Burns who worked his way into the home box for Whitehead and Messenger to have shots blocked – resulting in a corner kick that Miles delivered to Whitehead, back to Miles for another weaving run and pass to Whitehead, shot blocked, rebounding to Peare who poked it wide of the far-right post.
A period of scrappy play followed that took us into the final quarter – the early stages of which saw Nelson either punch or catch any crosses into his area.
As the game entered the final scheduled 5-minutes Barton increased the pressure and this required some determined defending from their visitors to deny them, and whilst Kirkpatrick brought a save out of Nelson at his left post with a snap-shot, Whitehead sent a cross through the home 6-yard box that Aidan Bennett nearly made contact with at the far post.
Moments after the 90-minute mark Whitehead battled for possession with Saunders, on the right channel front edge of the home box, and the ball broke to AIDAN BENNETT and he instantly clipped the ball over the stranded keeper and under the home cross-bar to seal the win – much to the delight of his team-mates. 1-3.
Full Time: 1-3
A difficult game for Cirencester as their hosts had plenty of possession but the make-shift team made up for their lack of cohesion, having not played together before, with a solid shift of effort and commitment to the cause.
Attendance: 111 Referee: ?????
Barton Rovers:
1. David Saunders
2. Ryan Neufville
3. Samuel Willett
4. Patrick McCafferty
5. Kai Phelan
6. Oliver Trott
7. Serhan Dogruer
8. Lucas Kirkpatrick ©
9. Joesph Rider
10. Taylor Rhiney 18
11. Cheyce Grant
12. Cameron Hyde (Samuel Willett-46mins)
14. Alfie Warman
15. Lewis Thomas (Oliver Trott-71mins)
16. Ciaran Maher
17. Joshua Adeyileka (Serhan Dogruer-71mins)
Cirencester Town:
1. Stuart Nelson
2. Will Christopher ©
3. Dan Hill
4. Joe Turley
5. George Peare
6. Cameron Walters
7. Harry Burns
8. Reegan Messenger
9. Felix Miles
10. Ben Whitehead 12, 14
11. Willem Pooley
12. Charlie McCrae (Felix Miles-69mins)
14. Aidan Bennett (Harry Burns-75mins) 90+1
15. Luca Robinson
16. Oliver Stevenson
17. James Mortimer-Jones