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
The latest visitors to The Talent Hire Stadium for an Uhlsport Hellenic League – Premier Division fixture were long-term County rivals CINDERFORD TOWN and after conceding 3-goals within the hour a spirited recovery from The Foresters tested their hosts resolve.
Prior to the match CINDERFORD TOWN sat in 15th place in the league table with 20 points from 16 matches whilst their hosts sat in 6th place with 32 points from 20 games played - so if The Foresters were to embark on a run similar to The Centurions recent set of results, then they too could rise up the table rapidly and therefore should not be under-estimated.
The reverse fixture, played at the end of August in atrocious weather conditions, ended 4-1 to The Centurions so The Foresters would undoubtedly be looking to avenge this defeat.
The Cirencester squad had a number of changes from last week :-
Starting eleven - Harlie Price’s remonstrations with the match officials last week resulted in a ‘one-match’ suspension that took effect for this match, and new recruit RHYS WELLS, who played so well against us for Highworth Town a couple of weeks ago, takes his place. Welcome Rhys we hope you enjoy your time with us.
Theo Jeremy who was unavailable last week due to illness returns in place of Jack Freeman.
Bench – Elliott Keightley and Jayden Stratford return to the squad after long-term injuries.
Cirencester kicked-off proceedings, playing towards The Arena end of the ground, as the ball was supplied to Kyle Pitts who launched it to the left corner for the visitors to throw-in and counter down their right flank – goal kick.
A few minutes later following an exchange of passes near the half-way line, left flank, between Jordan Morris and Jonty Welch the ball was laid back to Ed Scott who sent it across the pitch to the front edge of the visitor’s box, right channel, where Aidan Bennett headed it towards the Penalty Spot as George Peare charged forward but their alert ‘keeper Lewis Adams managed to collect first.
A promising start for The Centurions and a few minutes later Pitts delivered the ball to the right corner where Rhys Wells darted to collect and instantly cross towards the front edge of the 6-yard box where it was cleared to an incoming Bennett who struck a first-time shot narrowly over the top right corner of the goal-frame.
The home side then tried their left flank as Theo Jeremy was released for a run to the corner with the resulting cross being headed out at the near post for a corner kick. Fraser Bell sent the kick into the ‘mix’ in front of the goal and it was soon returned to him to do it again but this time a free kick for the visitors brought the pressure to an end.
Shortly afterwards Elliott Keightley replaced an injured Jordan Morris at left back and almost immediately he was involved as the visitors reached the right corner to deliver a low cross that was blocked and cleared for Bennett to mount a run down the right flank.
Cirencester dominated possession for the next 15-minutes but were unable to seriously test Adams in the visitor’s goal - with the only threat from the visitors coming from free kicks delivered by Adam Davies into the home box.
As the half entered the ten-minute period leading up to the interval Cinderford mounted an attack to their right corner as Kian Davies and Owen Taylor combined to release Callum Tye into the home box – corner kick. The kick cleared everyone but was worked back inside via Ollie Taylor and Kian Davies to Ryan Hillier who ‘won’ another corner kick from the left flank that Scott headed clear.
Five minutes from the interval Cirencester finally broke the dead-lock – after Bell delivered a free kick, left channel-halfway, to the right channel of the visitor’s box where it was headed out for a corner kick. Debutant Rhys Wells stepped up to take the kick and delivered it at pace to the front edge of the 6-yard box where an incoming GEORGE PEARE charged through to powerfully head into the net. 1-0.
In the remaining minutes Cinderford mounted an attack for Tye to reach the right byline, before Adam Davies delivered another free kick into the home box to be recycled for him to deliver it towards the far-right post where ‘keeper Ronnie Newbery caught it.
Half Time: 1-0
The Centurions made the perfect start to the second half as within ten minutes they had added two further goals.
When Cinderford kicked-off to launch the ball to their right corner it was returned with interest and deflected for a corner kick on Cirencester right flank and once again Wells stepped forward to deliver another perfect kick to the back post where ED SCOTT rose to power his header inside the left post. 2-0.
From the re-start the visitor’s fed Owen Taylor, right channel – 20 yards out, and he fired towards the left post where Newbery dived full-length to push it wide and concede a corner kick that Peare headed away but was quickly fed back in for a free kick to be awarded to Cirencester.
During the next few minutes Bennett released Wells who fired over the target from the right channel – 15-yards out, before Pitts and Wells combined to release Jeremy who crossed for Vine to head away.
A couple of minutes later THEO JEREMY collected a loose ball just inside the visitor’s half and immediately galloped down the left channel into the visitor’s box and with great awareness he clipped the ball past the advancing Adams towards the far-right post and whilst a covering Sam Hunt made a valiant attempt to clear the Assistant Referee signalled it had crossed the line and the goal was awarded. 3-0.
With nothing to lose the visitors changed their shape as Nathan Dennis took a more advanced role and they played three at the back.
As the hour mark approached Cinderford mounted an attack down their right flank as Hillier worked his way inside to supply Ben Watkins and he struck a fierce shot at the target – blocked by Welch who immediately released Jeremy for another run down the left channel.
At the hour mark Cirencester pressed for Wells to cross – caught by Adams who launched the ball down their left flank where it was crossed towards the near post where Scott headed out for a corner kick that was played short before being crossed towards the far-right post and another corner kick awarded from the right. This time Hunt delivered the ball to the front edge of the home 6-yard box where BEN VINE arrived to head through the mass into the net – a copy of Cirencester’s first goal. 3-1.
Cirencester pressed for the next few minutes but lost the ball enabling a quick counter from the visitors that yielded a second goal as Watkins tried another strike, from a position left of centre - 35-yards out, towards the bottom right post that brought another full-length dive from Newbery to keep it out but OLLIE TAYLOR had followed the strike and was quickest to the ball to drive it into the net from a couple of yards. 3-2.
The visitors had scored two goals in four minutes and there was still a quarter of the match to play – game on.
Almost immediately the visitor’s produced some neat passing football as they worked the ball forward but the final pass down the right channel was too strong – goal kick.
Cirencester then introduced Jayden Stratford - his first game since early August – and he was immediately welcomed with a couple of strong challenges that resulted in a ‘talking-to’ for the offender.
As the game entered the final ten scheduled minutes it was more open and end-to-end as both sides sought the important goal to either clinch the result (Cirencester) or equalise (Cinderford).
With five minutes remaining Cinderford retained the ball for a period without going forward but eventually Vine produced an overlapping run down the right flank to the corner before he crossed – too long.
Cirencester replied as Jack Horrell crossed from the left flank towards the far-right post – cleared but recycled back to him and this time his cross was deflected to Bennett who produced an overhead pass for Wells to collect and shoot – blocked.
Moments later Nick Peare received the ball in the right channel – 12-yards from goal but his right footed strike was wide of the right post, and almost immediately he was involved again as Joe Turley intercepted a pass inside the home half and released Bennett for a run to the left side edge of the visitor’s box where he stopped and laid the ball across the box to an unmarked Nick Peare who fired over from 10-yards.
Following this ‘let-off’ Cinderford launched another counter and cross from Ollie Taylor that provided a corner kick from the right – ‘keeper Adams advancing to be involved. The ball was defended and cleared to Bell who made a ground down the left flank before attempting a strike from half-way (as Adams was still out of his goal) but the effort drifted wide of the left post.
There was still time for one last effort from The Foresters as Adams delivered a free kick from inside his half to the right channel of the home box – Ollie Taylor’s effort blocked for a throw-in in the right corner that Vine took and Watkins returned to him for a cross – too long.
The final action of an enthralling match saw Cirencester working their right flank with a series of throw-ins before the whistle was blown to end the game.
Full Time: 3-2
A match that started quietly as Cirencester secured a 3-0 lead but came to life once Cinderford scored their two quick goals and became tense as it entered the final quarter with both sides searching for a positive result.
Attendance: 130 Referee: Sam Myatt
CIRENCESTER TOWN:
1. Ronnie Newbery
2. Fraser Bell
3. Jordan Morris
4. Edward Scott 47
5. Kyle Pitts
6. Joe Turley
7. Aidan Bennett
8. Jonty Welch
9. George Peare 40
10. Rhys Wells
11. Theo Jeremy 54
12. Nick Peare (George Peare-81mins)
14. Elliott Keightley (Jordan Morris-17mins)
15. Jack Horrell (Jonty Welch-78mins)
16. Bryan Stalley
17. Jayden Stratford (Theo Jeremy-72mins)
CINDERFORD TOWN:
1. Lewis Adams
2. Adam Davies
3. Sam Hunt
14. Ben Vine 62
5. Nathan Daniels ©
6. Ben Watkins
7. Owen Taylor
8. Ollie Taylor 66
9. Ryan Hillier
10. Kian Davies
11. Callum Tye
12. Jonas Dobson
4. Yakubu Ismail
15. Harvey Warner
16. Matt Driscoll
17. Dale Evans