Cirencester Town FC
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Cirencester Town FC
The home of football, corporate events, courses and celebrations
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The First Round of this season’s GFA CHALLENGE TROPHY brought STONEHOUSE TOWN to The Talent Hire Stadium and in horrendous weather conditions a competitive match was all-square at the end of the 90-minutes, and the dreaded Penalty Shoot-out was decided by a controversial decision from the Referee in favour of the visitors who move into the next round.
The visitors play their football in the Uhlsport Hellenic League – Division One and currently sit in 8th place with 22 points from the 14 games they have played, whilst their hosts also sit in 8th place with 23 points from 16 games in the Premier Division.
Cirencester’s rise to 8th place in the table in recent weeks has resulted in a number of injuries so the decision was taken to ‘rest’ some of their squad and take the opportunity to fill their ‘bench’ with members of the U18 side to give them some First Team experience.
In absolutely horrendous weather conditions, heavy rain and strong wind throughout, the two sets of players should be congratulated for putting on such a competitive, hard-fought match that in the end was decided by a controversial Penalty Shoot-out decision.
The match started at a fierce pace with the visitors pressing from the kick-off and within a few minutes Jorell Sanniola was through for a 1v1 with home ‘keeper Ronnie Newbery who managed to collect the ball but they were soon back again as they pressed down their right flank.
After this initial surge from their opponents lively forward line Cirencester countered down their right flank for Finley Bell to reach the corner before laying the ball back to brother Fraser who delivered a superb cross to the far-left post where ALFONSO DIAS arrived to place a firm header inside the left post. 1-0.
A few minutes later another cross from their right flank resulted in a George Peare header from close range being caught by ‘keeper Leimar Dinnall and the reply was immediate as Newbery was called into action again to catch a cross from the visitor’s right flank.
The game became even more ‘end-to-end’ and shortly after the mid-point of the half the busy Harvey Hudd tested Newbery from the right channel of the home box before bursting through in the left channel to fire wide of the left post as Newbery advanced.
Ten minutes later Newbery was in position to catch another Hudd strike from the left channel front edge of the home box and this was quickly followed by Josh Beadle bursting into the home box, right of Penalty Spot, where a block tackle initially relieved him of the ball but it rebounded back to him so he had another shot – parried by Newbery back to him, by this time right channel -12-yards out, so he tried again - firing wide of the right post.
In the final few minutes of the half George Peare nearly latched onto a Kyle Pitts pass down the right channel but Dinnall got there first - soon to be followed by Nick Peare delivering a 40-yard cross-field pass to Ethan Rose who immediately crossed towards Dias, near the left post, but it was intercepted as Dias swung his foot in anticipation of a volley.
The final action of the half saw Antonio Pirelli burst down the left flank to the corner but his cross das diverted by the outstretched leg of Nick Peare into the waiting arms of Newbery.
Half Time: 1-0
Within a few minutes of the re-start Nick Peare attempted a shot from the centre circle that Dinnall caught and then followed this up with a mazy 60-yard run, from deep inside the Cirencester half, that took him past a number of opponents before he released the ball to Finley Bell near the right front corner of the visitor’s box. The resulting cross was diverted for a corner kick that was headed clear at the back post to start a counter attack and switch to the left flank where the threat ended.
A couple of minutes later Fraser Bell punted the ball down the right channel for George Peare to chase but this time the ball was safely headed back to Dinnall by Spencer Martin before he could collect.
At this point Stonehouse launched a long ball down their right channel, which was initially headed back into the visitor’s half by Aidan Bennett, where a Stonehouse player collected and quickly took it to the front edge of the home box, to be worked left and slipped through for HARVEY HUDD to collect and smash inside the right post from a position 12-yards out from the left post. 1-1.
Four minutes later Hudd collected the ball in the right channel of the home box, moved left and struck a fierce shot at the target – Newbery pushed the strike into the air and as it dropped behind him, he was challenged by JAMOL DARE but still made the catch under the crossbar - only to see the Assistant Referee signalling that the ball had crossed the goal-line. After consultation the Referee awarded the goal. 1-2.
Either side of the mid-point of the half George Peare fired a right footed curling strike narrowly wide of the top right corner of the Stonehouse goal-frame, from 30 yards - left channel, and this was soon followed by a superb cross from the left flank by Jordan Morris that passed the far-right post without contact.
As Cirencester pressed in search of an equaliser the visitor’s defended for all they were worth whilst mounting counter attacks with a shot fired wide of the right post from 20-yards, left channel.
A minute later Rose headed a long ball down and into the path of GEORGE PEARE who immediately provided a clinical finish inside the far-left post, from the right channel – 12-yards out, to level the score.
During the next 3-4 minutes Stonehouse tested the home defence with a couple of corner kicks, including a scramble and a shot past the right post and they also had a header strike the crossbar.
The final action of the game saw Newbery dive to his left to deny the visitors a late ‘winner’ from long range.
Full Time: 2-2
With the scores tied at 90-minutes the Penalty Shoot-out began with the visitors going first and by the fourth Penalty Kick the scores were level at 3-3 with Cirencester still to take theirs – Alfonso Dias smashed his kick into the top right corner (temporarily giving Cirencester the lead or so they thought) but Referee James Curran decided that he had ‘stuttered’ in his run up to the kick and disallowed the ‘goal’ and denied him the opportunity to take it again. Stonehouse converted their fifth kick and Cirencester missed theirs so Stonehouse were through to the next round of the competition.
Cirencester scorers:- George Peare, Ethan Rose, Jordan Morris.
Stonehouse scorers:- Josh Beadle, Daniel Gayner, Karl Nash, Ryan Thwaite.
Penalty Kicks:- 3-4
A disappointing end, from a Cirencester viewpoint, to a very competitive match played in a good spirit despite the horrendous weather conditions.
GOOD LUCK TO STONEHOUSE IN THE NEXT ROUND
Attendance: ??? Referee: James Curran
CIRENCESTER TOWN:
1. Ronnie Newbery
2. Fraser Bell
3. Jordan Morris
4. Nick Peare
5. Kyle Pitts
6. Aidan Bennett ©
7. Ethan Rose
8. Jack Horrell
9. George Peare 82
10. Finley Bell
11. Alfonso Dias 7
12. Jonathan Sendra (Nick Peare-58mins)
14. Jack Lewis (Jack Horremins-58mins)
15. Harley Arnold (Finley Bell-80mins)
16. Aidan Williams (Kyle Pitts-65mins)
17. Luca Dickin (Fraser Bell-65mins)
STONEHOUSE TOWN:
1. Leimar Dinnall
2. Finn Rees
3. Spencer Martin
4. Josh Beadle ©
5. Lee Keveren
6. Rich Thwaite
7. Antonio Pirelli
8. Tiger Harris
9. Harvey Hudd 55
10. Jamol Dare 59
11. Jorell Sanniola
12. Ryan Thwaite
14. Dan Gayner
15. Alex Barrett
16. Karl Nash
13. Joey Haswell