COMFORTABLE WIN FOR AN ALWAYS IN CONTROL NORTH LEIGH

North Leigh 2

Cirencester Town 1

The Hellenic Premier champions of last season have made the move up to the Southern League with only a couple of additions to their well established squad. Their fitness, simple but accurate playing style and ability to play to their strengths were all very much to the fore over the full 90 minutes in this comfortable win.

Cirencester, with Russ Courtney making his debut in the centre of defence alongside Gary Thorne, were without midfielder Jamie Reid and had to field a not fully fit Shaun Wimble on their left flank. Their weaknesses were probed early on in the game and then clinically exploited by their hosts on the sloping Eynsham Park.

Leigh play a very fluid 4 4 2, sending players forward at every opportunity to challenge the opposition defence. But they are also very impressively quick to get back and close down when they lose possession. Within 10 minutes they had probed the Ciren right flank several times through the tricky and experienced Chris Allen, who was to spend the whole game giving Andy Minturn a towsing time.

On 27 minutes well drilled passing up the left side between Mark Simms, Paul Cooper and Andy McCabe shredded the Ciren attempts to close down Leigh and ended when Allen was worked in behind the brutally outnumbered Minturn.

When his cross was returned back into the penalty area by Mark Simms after he was opened up inside by the overlapping Ben Reardon, Liam Hope had drifted behind the turning Ciren defenders and was in the clear to prod the opener beyond an exposed Tom King. Simms had started the movement but as it developed he had scooted off to outside the far post and was there to be found by Reardon to make the cross back inside. Good, aware, football that.

A minute later, with the Ciren defence still collecting themselves after that blow, Leigh worked another collection of quick, accurate passes with the lanky Andy Helby pulling all the strings. Reardon, nominally the right back, was again thrusting forward in support and was put into space 25 yards out on the run by Joe Burnell. He jinked into the penalty area and put a perfect cross onto the head of Mark Simms only for his effort to hit the bar, bounce down and be hacked clear.

Ciren worked hard to get back into the game, with Lee Stevens trying to put his foot on the ball and keep possession. With Paul Casey providing a safe outlet on the left and Matt Williams and Julian Alsop working an impressively compact and competitive defensive pairing of Karl Dodds and Stuart Huxley, Ciren had a lot of the play for the next 15 minutes and themselves probed for weaknesses.

A 20 yard volley expertly sent in by Matt Williams, as he looped to collect a clever head down from Alsop off a left side throw, was equally expertly punched at full stretch over the bar by Les Farrow on 32 minutes. Steve Davies, always tricky up the right flank, was having a rare tussle with the uncompromising Paul Cooper. Not always winning the battles, he kept going at him and Leigh were quick to get the support in for Cooper to close down the threat.

But on the other side, where it was clear that Wimbs would not be making any sprints up the line, Ciren had to work the ball inside by keeping possession and then dragging the defenders out. Easy to say, not easy to do. But they worked hard at it and forced Joe Burnell and former Centurion Andy McCabe deep back into their own half in front of their own backline.

When one of Steve Davies' forays ended with Nathan Haisley bursting onto the ball on the edge of the area on 40 minutes, Burnell was in to close him down but a fraction too late. The officials did not see the hand he used to knock the ball away to prevent Haisley getting past him.

Ironically, the fact that the handball had pushed the ball on to Nathan's leg and then over the bye-line was 'rewarded' with a Ciren corner. Like rather too many Ciren dead ball efforts, this one was too close to the keeper and the threat was nowhere. Bizarre, that 'missed penno then corner' decision. Half time could not come soon enough for Ciren to regroup.

But within two minutes their defence had again conceded. A left wing corner was dropped at the horrible spot 10 yards out at the far post. Headed out to the edge of the box there was an unforgivable gap where, completely unmarked, Allen had time to steady and lash in a fierce left footer.

Going wide beyond the far post, Mark Simms deflected the ball into the roof of the net from 6 yards. Lucky maybe but the fact that the shot had come in unmarked and Simms was on the spot to stick out his boot as the ball flashed in says it all.

Horrible goal to concede and North Leigh now had a cushion. While they continued to look for goals they now knew they could contain Ciren in midfield if they had to do that to close out the game.

Ciren had neither the midfield passing slickness of Leigh, in spite of the valiant efforts of Lee Stevens to steady himself on the ball and keep the move going. Nor the forward control under sustained pressure from the defensive covering to be able to switch the play into the gaps.

Every time a momentary opening appeared it was closed down by the cover available from whichever Leigh player was closest to the play. Time after time the Ciren momentum was slowed enough to be contained.

Doggedly plugging away Ciren finally worked a clear chance on 61 minutes. Paul Casey had time to bring the ball down and played infield on the deck to Stevens. Offering right, he made the defence look away; then placed his pass back up the blindside to give the already moving Shaun Wimble the chance to collect in space.

Wimbs sent Matt Williams, already buzzing into the gap away beyond Reardon, up the left to the bye-line. The cross beat the defence and landed in the six yard box where, under desperate pressure from Cooper, Julian Alsop could not quite get his feet untangled to connect and the chance was gone.

Moments later Ciren got away again, this time up their right. When Steve Davies sent in a driven low cross after skipping past the flailing Cooper as a long throw in broke back to him, Shaun Wimble was on the spot to score right footed from 6 yards when Alsop forced a defensive error from the otherwise impeccable defending of Karl Dodds.

Ciren pressed for the remaining half hour but maybe resorted too often to the temptation to try and get something off knockdown's from Julian's noggin. Time after time he lifted himself valiantly, in spite of the close attentions from Dodds, to try and get the ball down or away behind the defence.

Sometimes the nod on from Jools went the 'wrong' side. And when it did go through the gap beyond the defence, Willo was being flagged by a lino who seemed unable to recognise that the flag goes up not when the ball lands but only if the player has gone beyond the last defender when the pass is made.

With North Leigh working the ball clear with crisp passing to the nearest man in space whenever they regained possession, Ciren had to be very tight at the back. And they had to work to get the ball back. It was always from a position deep in their own half that Ciren had to start the journey back upfield.

When they did manage to work something in the final third it needed bodies in the box to take advantage. Too often it was only Alsop or Williams offering with the rest of the Ciren manpower strung down the field and always aware that a quick counter attack could threaten. And too often the attack ended with an attempt to make use of the aeriel power of Alsop.

Throughout the game Andy Helby had ranged all over the park, always making himself available and providing a secure outlet through which Leigh could send their forwards away. And invariably Helby moved the ball on into the space where the Ciren defence had to pay attention.

By this time in the match, Ciren were all too aware of the threat these counters posed. Allen was not getting free as much as before but frequently getting himself free kicks as Minturn worked perhaps too hard to contain him and the ref reacted as the tumbles happened, always just as the ball had been contacted first by Minno. Cute - and understandable.

The openings for Ciren were much less frequent. When on 77 minutes Williams sent Davies in on the right with an astute pass over the sucked in Cooper way out of position, it needed a cross stood up to the far post where Alsop was clear.

Under pressure from the onrushing Huxley, who had made more than 30 yards to get back to cover (that in itself told you loads about how the Leigh defence knew its job) the cross was sent just short and Farrow gratefully grabbed the reprieve.

The attitude shown by Leigh was clearly visible right at the death. A Ciren attack up the left ended when a rebound off Wimble sent the ball into touch. When the referee awarded the throw the other way the whole Leigh team as one erupted in fierce protests, swarming the official briefly and chuntering darkly as the final moments were played out. They wanted this win and they secured it with a full 90 minutes of effort and no mean skill.

North Leigh: Lee Farrow, Ben Reardon [Simon Futcher 86], Andy Helby, Paul Cooper Y54, Stuart Huxley (c), Karl Dodds, Joe Burnell, Andy McCabe, Mark Simms [Mark Threlfall 75], Liam Hope, Chris Allen

subs: Ben Hutter, Terry Merriman

Cirencester: Tom King, Russ Courtney, Paul Casey, Gary Thorne (c), Lee Stevens Y70, Andy Minturn, Steve Davies, Nathan Haisley [Steve Robertson 80], Julian Alsop, Matt Williams, Shaun Wimble

subs: Rob Dean, Dan Thompson

Ref: Mr K Morris, Hereford      Seemed to me, and I would say this wouldn't I, that he was a wee bit inconsistent. Kept picking up the 'foot left in' by Minno as Allen kept tormenting him but apart from one blatant mistiming that pulled a comic yellow could not quite see the same by Cooper on Steve Davies. Maybe Davo will in time learn the tricks that Allen so expertly showed in 'working' the ref?

Att: 100 Lots and lots of Centurions in the crowd, optimistic at some stages but slowly but surely disappointed and in the end disillusioned as Leigh increased their dominance over our 'team in progress'. I was entertained by the 'drumming' by the Leigh legion before the game started, at half time and as the second half started but the almost silence in which the rest of the game was watched was eerie.

MoM: personally, I made Karl Dodds easily the most influential player on the park. He had the job of keeping Julian in check. When he had to, he got his body in. When he had time he brought the ball down and passed it out. And when cover behind Huxley was needed when Willo was getting away from him, Dodds was there to get in the way.Switched on defending and a huge determination to get the cover on when it was needed.

On the fans votes for Ciren MoM there were a few for Lee Stevens, Willo and Steve Davies but the majority went for the new lad, Russ Courtney