URGENT AND COMBATIVE SWANS DESERVE THEIR WIN AGAINST A SORRY LOOKING CIREN

Slimbridge AFC 2

Cirencester Town 1

Slimbridge, starting this season promoted to the Hellenic West, were fired up for this match and gave a progressively woebegone Ciren no time or space to weave whatever wiles they might have had in mind. This was a deserved victory for the so-called junior club. Even though both their goals owed a little to the somewhat partisan performance from their local referee there was no doubt which team deserved the win today.

Mr Cole had added four or five new players to his title winning Swans from last season, with Marvin Roberts and Shane Hanson from Hardwicke the pick of his bunch. He had lost his keeper to a broken leg in midweek so called on retired from last season custodian Ryan Chadwick to don the super-size green jersey he had filled with distinction over many years.

Mr Hughes had sent his Development squad to Longlevens for a friendly, boosting them with Tom and Max Etheridge, Rob Dean, Andy Minturn and George Boon from his senior players. With Chris Williams absent, having to deal with a poorly child, there were only 13 players available with Lyndon Tomkins and Chris Thompson back after their recent injuries. Jason Welsh was played at the back with Lee Stevens asked to take the right wing back slot while Scott Griffin and Carl Brown, returning to his old stamping ground, played as the front two job.

On a slick, well mown flat pitch Ciren certainly looked as if they meant business early on, zipping the ball between themselves and easily cutting out the optimistic long passes meant to send the two blue front men on their way. Carl Brown, playing up against his big mate Will Wellon, was having a lively tussle with him and twice very nearly found a way through. With Scott Griffin lively in the face of some right through the tackle challenges from Inch and Workman, it looked as if openings would come.

The first came on five minutes when Marvin Thompson threaded James Robbins inside Shane Hanson and, winning the race, his first time left foot cross sailed over the defence but had no support, with both Chris Thompson and Lee Stevens too far behind the play on the right; possibly surprised and not gambling that the cross would come sailing in, that was an opening wasted.

It was soon very clear that Slimbridge were going to give this match everything, hustling enthusiastically and closing down Browner and The Griff with swarms of players when the ball went forward for Ciren. And then making themselves free and using the ball well when it broke loose, as it began to do with monotonous regularity as neither front man seemed able to hold the ball up for Ciren.

While Slimbridge also had difficulty in creating an opening up top, with the lively Craig Cole unable to get himself beyond Lyndon Tomkins and the rumbustious Marvin Roberts trying but failing to ruffle Jason Welsh, the game was now going end to end and shapeless. A curious set of decisions from the ref, seeing fouls where there appeared to be no infringement then missing some fairly determined but mistimed obstructions from Workman and Inch as Brown and Griffin began to come to meet the ball, seemed to irritate Ciren.

They lost focus, started to send long hopeful passes upfield but carelessly off target and handed the initiative back to Slimbridge as possession was given away time and again. On 19 minutes Jason Welsh won a challenge against the half leaping, half leaning Roberts 35 yards out, and the ref blew.

Ciren and most of those looking on thought it was a blue foul but it was the other way. Before Ciren could even think about defending it Tom Cole had dinked his namesake Craig Cole in behind the defence and he drilled calmly home inside the far post from 18 yards. Careless goal to concede but cleverly and quickly exploited by the much more on the ball Swans midfield.

Slimbridge had no attack of more than two passes after that but for all their possession Ciren had not one accurate attacking pass on target as time and again they looked up, saw a wall of blue shirts and had neither the guile nor the patience nor the accuracy of pass to move that wall around before trying to penetrate it. James Robbins twice very nearly scampered away on the left but was closed out both times and when Griffin did get the ball under control and managed to get away from the swarming tackles coming in on him his next pass was each time cleared away by a determined boot.

Second half, no doubt with their ears ringing from a right old fashioned chat from their very dischuffed gaffer, Ciren were maybe more urgent but were half as effective as they ran into blind alleys or sent the final pass to nowhere. Within 5 minutes of the restart, Slimbridge should have scored twice. A lovely move up the left, with Roberts nipping into the left channel as Ward collected in midfield to find his spin and run then re-directing the pass first time inside back to the galloping Craig Cole, surging into the gap and through the defence, saw the shot unchallenged from the edge of the box beat Matt Bath but clip away off the far post.

Minutes later another quick set of Swans passes, with both Jamie Reid then Nick Dean left stranded by simply awful Ciren passes from the back, again sent Craig Cole through this time down the right channel and again he missed. The exchanges were becoming heated, with Griffin getting no mercy from the Slimbridge defence as they went for the ball and got it no matter whether the man was there or not.

It had Ciren moaning at the ref and starting to look and feel hard done by. Maybe there were inconsistencies but the fact remained there had been no incisive passes to spread the Slimbridge defence and anything played safe and through the middle was immediately swamped by a determined and very effective midfield. An hour gone and no Ciren strike on goal was a measure of their success so far.

Moments later, Carl Brown did force Chapman to a save, turning, putting on the afterburners and then as soon as he got a yard clear 20 yards out sending a spiteful low shot for the right hand post and forcing a sprawling but effective tip round from the big keeper.

Slimbridge were helped when the ref (and his lino who had a much clearer view but failed to flag) missed a blatant handball from Roberts as he turned on a throw in and lost control. The ball was knocked away by the alert Nick Dunn but Browner kept chuntering away at the injustice of it all, the ref had a word and when the chuntering continued Browner was off, with a huge hump on, and Zak was on in his place.

Ciren got themselves a bunch of corners, Slimbridge got them away or closed Griff down if he tried to make something of his rare possession within 25 yards of Chandler's nets and the game was visibly hanging on who got the next goal. How it happened was bizarre – the first Slimbridge corner of the half was played back to Hanson, his cross was long for the far post and Matt Bath came out to punch, was impeded by both Lyndon Tomkins and Roberts and his hook at the ball missed. Ball running wide, peep on the whistle, has to be a foul on the keeps.

No, from his hooked arm gesture the ref saw Roberts had been prevented from getting to the ball. It was a joke but Tom Cole did not laugh, popped the ball on the spot and slotted the penalty expertly inside the post with Matt Bath going the other way for 2-0 on 80 minutes.

Now playing with not only urgency but a burning sense of injustice, Ciren were first to every loose ball thereafter and forced a goal on 88 minutes when James Guthrie knocked a half cleared corner in at the near post from 12 yards. A minute later Griff finally had a pass he could use, turned and surged away from two desperate tackles. 25 yards out, with only Wellon in front of him and James Robbins clear on his right he spurned the obvious pass and tried to hit the top corner but missed by a foot.

No matter which way you try to paint it, Ciren just did not have the control, accuracy or, dare I say it, the bite to best a very determined Swans who twice had split them to shreds at the beginning of the second half and never stopped making sure they were near enough to the ball to get a boot in whenever Ciren looked dangerous.

It would have been easy to make excuses given the performance of the ref but that was just a distractor – Ciren were second best and have to look to work on improving their possession, positioning and determination if the first month of the season is not to pass them by.

Slimbridge: Ryan Chandler, Shane Hanson, Will Wellon, Jamie Inch, Rich Workman [James Cole 85], Fred Ward [Jamie Martin 75], Will Freeman [Mark Roffe 80], Tom Cole, Marvin Roberts (c), Craig Cole [Mishak Foster 68], Lewis Wilton [Brinsley Thompson 75]

Cirencester: Matt Bath, Lee Stevens, Marvin Thompson [James Guthrie 41], Lyndon Tomkins, Jamie Reid (c), Jason Welsh, Chris Thompson, Nick Dean, Carl Brown [Zak Westlake 61], Scott Griffin, James Robbins

Ref: Mr Martin Tudor, Stroud

Att: around 50

MoM: In a shabby display overall, I thought only Lee Stevens, Nick Dean and Jamie Reid about shaped up with Lee Stevens just topping it for me.