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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Click photo to view a slideshow of photos from the match
Match photos supplied by Graham Hill
Biggleswade Town were the latest visitors to The Talent Hire Stadium and despite a promising start from the home side the visitors went to the interval with a two-goal cushion, but an early reply promised much before ‘The Waders’ added two more to secure the three points.
In terms of league positions and current form prior to the match – Biggleswade Town sat in 2nd place in the league table with 47 points from 25 games played whilst Cirencester were in 6th place with 40 points from 27 games played.
Examination of the ‘6-Match Form Guide’ table reveals that ‘The Waders’ have secured 10 points from their last 6 games whilst ‘The Centurions’ have obtained 8 points to sit in 4th and 13th places respectively in the relevant table.
Last season the visitors secured a 1-0 victory in this fixture and the reverse fixture, which incidentally was our opening fixture in this Division, was tied at 0-0.
The reverse fixture for this season has been re-arranged for Tuesday 26th March with a 19.45 Kick Off.
Starting Eleven – Manager, John Brough, made one change to last weeks ‘back-four’ as Jordan Morris remained at left back, with Charlie Johnson continuing alongside Jake Lee at centre back due to the continued absence of Nick Peare.
Joe Turley returned to his centre midfield role alongside Willem Pooley with Felix Miles and Charlie McCrae providing support on the flanks.
In a fluid formation Harry Burns and Ben Whitehead both returned from injury to take up more adventurous roles.
The bench consisted of Luca Robinson, John Dennis, Reegan Messenger, Aidan Bennett and Josh Seller.
Cirencester kicked-off playing towards The Arena end of the ground and immediately attacked down the left channel via Jordan Morris before the ball was switched to the right flank for Dan Hill to ‘chip’ towards the right corner where Felix Miles collected and delivered a low cross to Harry Burns as he arrived into the visitor’s box to clip his shot just over the top right corner of the crossbar.
Minutes later Miles was brought to ground as he cut left from the right touchline, 35-yards out, and a free kick awarded that he delivered towards the far-left post where it was cleared.
The home side had started very positively and continued to press and dominate possession as Hill delivered a cross towards the right post where Ben Whitehead challenged the visitors ‘keeper, Jack Berman, who was awarded a free kick.
Felix Miles then robbed an opposing defender just inside the Biggleswade half and galloped to the right-side edge of the box before slipping the ball left to Burns who returned it, then back to Hill who crossed into the box – defended and cleared but soon recycled for Miles to reach the right-side edge of the visitor’s box again. This time he delivered a low cross towards the far-post where Whitehead miss-kicked but recovered the ball to exchange passes with Burns before having his shot blocked for a corner kick. When the kick was delivered into the goalmouth there were loud shouts from the gathered supporters that it had crossed the line in the ensuing melee but these went unheeded by the officials and the ball was recycled and sent back into the Biggleswade box and eventually defended.
After surviving the early pressure from their hosts Biggleswade began to work the ball forward themselves with the pace of Rhys Hoenes a particular threat as he looked to latch onto a pass from Harry Draper into the home box but custodian Stuart Nelson was quickly off his line to clear the danger before he could reach it.
Moments later Rohdell Gordon robbed a home player just inside the Biggleswade half and sent a cross-field pass towards the left front corner of the home box where Hoenes collected, cut right and shot for Nelson to push away from his goal.
Marcus Gouldbourne then charged down the left channel but was brought to an abrupt halt with a free kick being awarded 25-yards from goal. Jonathan Lacey fired a low kick towards the goal which was deflected by the feet of the of the leaping protective wall into the path of a lurking
JACK MORRELL and he wasted no time in tucking the ball into the net from close range. 0-1.
Cirencester responded to the setback as both Morris and Miles delivered crosses from their flanks for Berman to collect.
Shortly after the 30-minute mark Lacey cleared another threat from Cirencester as he launched the ball down the pitch towards the right channel front edge of the home box where RHYS HOENES darted forward to reach the ball before an advancing Nelson, pull it out of the air with skill, and fire into the vacant net from an acute angle. 0-2.
Encouraged by their cushion Biggleswade launched another long ball to the right corner and were rewarded with a throw-in that led to a corner kick and a volley from Morrell that was blocked and recycled for another corner kick that was ultimately caught by Nelson.
Once again Cirencester reacted positively as Morris and Miles had shots from the edge of the visitor’s box blocked before Jake Lee was called upon to clear a low Hoenes cross from the edge of his 6-yard box.
Half Time: 0-2
The visitors had been on the receiving end of a lot of pressure during the first half but had proved difficult to break down and grown into the game as the half progressed, and they now had a two-goal cushion to defend and with this in mind the home side had to come out positively from the re-start and this they did as Burns and Whitehead exchanged passes on the edge of the Biggleswade box for the former to fire at the target and Berman to tip it onto and over his crossbar.
The initial corner kick was cleared to be recycled by some neat play between Willem Pooley, Joe Turley and Miles to result in another corner kick and this time Miles kick was met by the head of HARRY BURNS at the near post and guided into the net. 1-2.
Game on as Miles darted across the pitch before delivering a free kick into the mix that was defended.
As the visitors made progress down their left touch-line they were awarded a free kick that Nelson reacted sharply to parry away from his goal – falling to Charles Briggs who fired over the target.
Back came Cirencester as Miles cross from the right corner was deflected to Berman, followed by Miles charging down the left channel before slipping the ball left to an overlapping Morris who returned it to Miles on the edge of the visitor’s box - his shot was blocked but moments later he delivered a free kick into the Biggleswade box that yielded another corner kick that was cleared.
Shortly after the hour-mark The Waders mounted a counter attack that resulted in a corner kick from their left flank. Jonathan Lacey delivered the kick to the edge of the 6-yard box where JACK MORRELL rose to head home and regain their two-goal cushion. 1-3.
Six minutes later Cirencester were dealt the killer blow as Damani Hunter embarked on a run down the left channel before unleashing a shot that Nelson could only parry into the path of a supporting HARRY DRAPER who completed the tap-in to score. 1-4.
Cirencester continued to push forward at every opportunity but when Biggleswade dealt with the threat they had an instant outlet in the pace of Hoenes who chased after a number of clearances before he was finally substituted.
His final run resulted in a corner kick that Lacey delivered to the back post from the right flank for Bernard Christie to head against the left post and the rebound was ‘chipped’ over the bar by Luke Andrews.
The Centurions continued to battle but were unable to penetrate the resolute, well organised defence of their opponents.
Full Time: 1-4
A disappointing result for The Centurions who started both halves well but were unable to break through their experienced opponents defence despite plenty of possession.
Attendance: 204 Referee: John Duffy
Cirencester Town:
1. Stuart Nelson
2. Daniel Hill
3. Jordan Morris
4. Willem Pooley
5. Jake Lee ©
6. Charles Johnson
7. Harry Burns 50
8. Joseph Turley
9. Felix Miles
10. Ben Whitehead
11. Charlie McCrae
12. Luca Robinson (Charlie McCrae-55mins)
14. John Dennis
15. Reegan Messenger (Willem Pooley-70mins)
16. Aidan Bennett (Ben Whitehead-70mins)
17. Josh Seller
BIGGLESWADE TOWN:
1. Jack Berman
14. Rohdell Gordon
3. Callum Wilson
4. Charles Miller
5. Jack Morrell 21, 63
6. Chaarles Briggs
7. Marcus Gouldbourne
8. Luke Andrews ©
9. Harry Draper 70
10. Jonathan Lacey
11. Rhys Hoenes 33
12. Bernard Christie (Harry Draper-75mins)
13. Will Fisher (GK)
17. Joe Howe
15. Damani Hunter (Marcus Gouldbourne-65mins)
16. Liam Brooks (Rhys Hoenes-82mins)