BRISTISH GAS BUSINESS SOUTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE MONDAY 17 MARCH 08 7.30PM KO

Cirencester Town 0 Team Bath 1

The Students rested Marc Canham, possibly the best midfielder in the League and certainly the player who makes this well drilled Team Bath tick, as they looked for a quick double over the Centurions. In the event, it was a wise move for Mr Roddy to play the rest of his first pick because Ciren were a different proposition to the side who had been almost disdainfully unpicked at Twerton Park the previous Tuesday night.

Mr Viveash had Lee Molyneux back in the heart of his team, with Matt Shaxton also returning after the pair had been rested a week earlier in advance of a Colleges Cup winning semi-final. With Andy Chapman starting his suspension following a red card erroneously applied at Clevedon, Mr Viveash had also completed the signing of Ben Weedon, Chris' twin, to take the left back slot.

Up front Matt Taylor, also on loan from Oxford United, came in to make his debut together with Sean Bailey getting his first start from the Academy playing wide right. There was a bright, controlled spark to the play of both teams in a high tempo, competitive opening, with Sean soon showing that quick feet and getting first to the ball onto accurate passes can drive even the best defenders back into their shells.

I was hijacked by Neil Phelps (Tigerroar) at pitchside from the start and was hugely entertained by him in the first half as he admired the way the Ciren defence closed off all the angles made by a typically inventive TB attack. And he winced, with me, as the Ciren attack strove to get through, over or past a typically firm TB defence.

He said he wanted TB to score, but only to find out if their fabled massive travelling support had actually made the journey. Nearly got his wish on 12 minutes when Mike Perrott got away up the right, fed Sean Canham and Joe Arnold was clear and on his own 12 yards out when picked out by a beautifully paced and placed ground pass. Untypically, his connection was poorly timed and he hooked wide of Bully's post.

That was TB's only attack to get through, with Moly and Alex Stanley doing a tremendous job of containing Canham and Arnold. In spite of all their wiles, wriggles and high speed darts for the gaps they were not breaking through.

The defensive bulwarks were greatly helped by the ability and willingness of the Weedon twins not only to make themselves available for the out ball but also by the way they looked for and made their overlap runs and passes into the slots for Shax and Sean Bailey to take play further upfield.

Team Bath play an admirable, measured game. Collect the ball, they automatically look for the next pass and are rewarded by players making themselves available all over the park. Make a good pass and you've still got possession and the angles are changing for the opposition defence.

Rarely going for the Hollywood pass, they break teams down, open them up and then finish. Very hard to contain and very wearying to play against if you give them the ball back. In the middle Nathan Haisley was winning more than his fair share of second balls as he harried Dean Smith unmercifully. It was turning into a good match.

It needed Ciren to grab their chances when they could get beyond the Team Bath control of the spaces. Or, if they could, control the ball in the Team Bath final third and work something unexpected to wrongfoot the defence. Twice, three times Matt Taylor surprised Sami El-Abd with a spin and run after coming to collect and slowly but surely the balance of the match was evening up.

Second half, Ben Weedon and Matt Shaxton started to change the angles of their runs and both of them were beginning to force Adi Adams and Mike Perrott into deeper and deeper defence. Tigerroar had also expressed a wish for 2 Ciren goals, as well as his perverse desire to test the noise factor behind the TB support. It nearly happened.

On the hour Shax collected after a corner was cleared, saw space and eased past Smith and then Perrott. With Adams backpedalling and trying to contain him, Shax dropped his shoulder, changed pace, went outside and slotted a superb pass back across the defence.

Matt Taylor was moving towards it but, with Sean Bailey facing goal and in a better position, Matt quite rightly left it to the youngster. He had a microsecond, settled and then discovered that at this level you have to be set and strike instantly to get a reward. Gary Warren blocked desperately but effectively and the chance deflected wide.

First clear chance gone, but Ciren were looking much more in control and pressing TB back and forcing them to concede possession from defence. Ben Weedon was bossing his flank now, moving to intercept, passing accurately inside and scorching up the flank in support and pulling the cover over to contain him.

Tactically, Mr Roddy thought to give Ben a problem by replacing the by now out of ideas Perrott with the sparky, speedy Takumi Ake. It did not quite work first off because by now Ben was on his pomp. It was an invigorating display of aggressive support running and Ake was also being forced back to contain.

That bit of doing the unexpected up top saw the TB defence undone on 65 minutes. Shax again got space, fed Robbo and his spin and shot surprised El-Abd and caught the shaky Jake Meredith. He could not stop the shot bouncing off him and Matt Taylor was racing in. Maybe could have nodded it in, he chose to hit it, somehow got his feet wrong and it came off him and over the bar when the net was open in front of him.

It was a miss. We've had to work hard for open play chances all season and while it did not knock the stuffing out of the Ciren team it encouraged Team Bath. They had escaped and they knew it.

Both teams battled to get on top, with the play zinging up and down the field. Arnold, also frustrated and starting to look as if his antics would penalise his team so was subbed by the quicker but less physical Josh Llewellyn to try and sneak into the gaps behind Alex Stanley.

The back line, with Chris Collins and Nathan standing strong in front of them, stayed focussed and kept catching him offside as TB began to be over eager in their setting up play. It was looking like a draw unless somebody made a mistake. And TB were conceding more and more free kicks as Shax and Nathan began to run past the first line of the TB midfield. Which way would this one go?

The ref had been very consistent, all match, in penalising attacking nudges in the box especially from free kicks and corners. Which meant that both defences had confidence in attacking the ball, knowing that if they were knocked off the ref would act.

So, when on 73 minutes, a corner arched all the way over the Ciren defence to where both Shaun Lamb and Steve Abbott were poised to pounce it needed defending. Nathan was up but Steve Abbott did even better, leaping but keeping himself neat, and made a perfect connection to send the ball just inside the post with Bully transfixed. Nobody on the post but that is Bully's decision. It just was a very good goal.

Neil got his wish. There is something bizarre that the noise when Team Bath score comes from the players themselves. Nary a peep from the sidelines. Must be very disconcerting for The Students to play with no support. But they've done it for many years now and take a perverse delight in it. They just get on and play.

Fifteen minutes to go – it seemed to speed past with Ciren furiously working to get something and TB doggedly defending. Max Etheridge made his debut to replace Matt Taylor. His first experience of Southern Prem was to get the ball and Gary Warren at the same time. Picked himself up, shrugged and got stuck in.

Made sure he stayed mobile, arced his runs nicely and there was some good set up play from him and very soon Warren knew he had a good forward up against him. Mr Roddy finally put Marc Canham on to close off the game.

While he never got a moment to thread Sean Canham through for the coup de grace, another typical TB tactic once they have a lead and the opposition are having to go forward, his positioning and great first touch meant Ciren had to work hard to contain the Time Stands Still When He Is On The Ball Midfielder.

It is worth noting that Sean Canham never once got into the box on a chance and for that great credit has to go to Moly. The scouts out in force looking at Canham must also have noted how well he was contained.

Meredith survived the last few half scares in the TB goal as we battered frantically with Max getting only a quarter chance as a ball from Nathan was overhit and bounced away from him. And we came out of that with nothing.

I'd watched TB and Bashley have a real battle on the Saturday. Two good teams and one heck of a moaner's contest from Bash. But TB had imposed themselves as they do in all their matches and constantly had made the Bash chase the ball – much more than they had managed to do to Ciren in this match. They should have notched three more but that good 'keeper Elms had out stared them where it counted.

Credit to the Ciren lads for staying with it for the whole game and making TB play better than they had to do on the Saturday. Ciren should be mighty encouraged by the knowledge that if they can do that against one of the most organised, grind you down, teams in the League then they can do that to better effect against any or all of their next nine opponents.

Including Lynn on Saturday. They'll be expecting to win. But they'll have to match or exceed the TB performance to get that. With Matt Williams back up front and Matt Taylor making an encouraging debut, with the defensive pair flanked by backs who will take the ball and make it work then making sure they pass on target and burn for the space there is no reason why we should not get something out of it.

As I've said before, it is about belief. I believe that the elusive wins we need are still there to get.

Centurions: Matt Bulman, Chris Weedon, Ben Weedon, Nathan Haisley, Lee Molyneux Y 55, Alex Stanley, Sean Bailey, Chris Collins (c), Steve Robertson, Matt Taylor [Max Etheridge 75], Matt Shaxton
subs: Michael Jackson, Harry Etheridge, Aaron Stevens

The Students: Jake Meredith, Adi Adams, Shaun Lamb, Steve Abbott, Gary Warren (c) Y24, Sami El-Abd, Mike Perrott [Takumi Ake 63], Dean Smith Y61 [Marc Canham 83], Joe Arnold [Josh Llewellyn 69], Sean Canham Y80, Ben Thomson
subs: Gerard Alonso, Simon Cooper

Ref: Mr G Russell, Northampton     His first visit here and he had a great game. Maybe he should have recognised that when he booked Moly for 'preventing' a free kick from being taken that Sean Canham had bent and kicked the ball straight at Moly within a second of the whistle being blown.

But he was in position for everything, made his decisions clearly. And was rewarded with nary a word or gesture of dissent as both teams recognised that there was a third good team in this match. Except Sean Canham who did dissent, vividly, and collected a deserved yellow. Bashley will probably sign him next season.

Att: 122    For us in our current position, that was fair. Would be lovely to see a few more at our Saturday fixtures coming up but that will happen when the team are showing them that wins are on the menu for those.

We had a Swedish groundhopper today, a fella who does a week long trip round the UK in the Sweden winter break and has become addicted to non-league. He was very complimentary about the standard and intensity of the play, disappointed for Ciren, admired TB's style, and was chuffed to bits to be asked to present the MoM award.

Ciren MoM:   interesting. Sean Bailey got votes, Chris Weedon a lot of votes, as did Shax. I voted for Moly but the majority voted, to much ribald barracking from his team mates, for Nathan Haisley. Second prize went to Oggy Hunt, fined by the team enforcers for mixing up the Weedon twins within a minute of coming into the dressing room. Like it.