TWO SOFT GOALS FELL CIRENCESTER

Cirencester Town 1 - 2 Bishops Cleeve

THE defensive frailties which resulted in Cirencester Town conceding almost 80 goals last season may not be a thing of the past.

Having led through Carl Brown’s third goal of the season in the dying moments of the first period, Ciren were behind soon after the hour mark thanks to two utterly avoidable goals.

Despite a brave late rally, they could not carve out any cast-iron chances and the resolute Bishops Cleeve defence held on for all three points.

Cleeve lost captain Richard Mansell to an injury in the warm-up and the formidable backline presence of Dan Avery inside 15 minutes, but despite this disruption to the visitors, Ciren only began to assert in the final 20 minutes of the first half.

Lyndon Tompkins wasted a golden headed chance from a Chris Thompson corner on 24 minutes and 15 minutes later Tom King, returning to the club that released him in the summer, made a telling save with his legs from a rasping Jamie Reid shot.

Ciren were cranking up the pressure at this point and gained a deserved lead when Brown picked up the pieces of a half-cleared free kick, tip-toed inside the box, and maintained just enough control to toe poke the ball past King.

Within 60 seconds of the restart, Ciren were caught cold when Ben Gascoyne made a 40-yard diagonal run towards the box without encountering a meaningful challenge, laid it off for Mansell’s replacement Stve Jackson, making his first start for Cleeve, and he curled his finish coolly around Matt Bath.

A rampant Cleeve were now torturing Town, who had a lucky left-off in the 58th minute when an almighty scramble resulted in a shot hitting the underside of the bar and bouncing perilously close to the line.

Without the benefit of a Russian linesman or goal line technology, it was not given. Five minutes later, however, Cleeve did take the lead when James Vercesi was given the freedom of the six-yard box to firmly head Kevin Slack’s corner past Bath.

The Cleeve tornado eventually blew itself out and prompted by the driving Reid in midfield, Ciren rallied in search of the equaliser. It was Reid’s bouncing pass that sent Jody Bevan clear in the 74th minute but the striker’s attempted volley proved way off target.

Chris Thompson hooked a tempting ball over the Cleeve backline for the pacy Carl Brown five minutes later and, from the same spot as Bevan’s miss, the youngster showed better technique than his teammate to drill a volley goalward. Unfortunately for Ciren fans, King made a good save.

There was more bluster from Ciren as the clock ticked down but their derby rivals held out to make it two wins in two games.

Cirencester: Bath, Westlake, T Etheridge, Neil Griffiths (capt), Thompson, Tompkins, Reid, Williams (Welsh, 65), Brown, Bevan, M Etheridge (Guthrie, 71). Unused subs: Dunn, Dean, Robbins.

Bishops Cleeve: King, Jackson, D Avery (Vercesi, 14), Routledge, Jones (Sheehan, 80), S Avery, Gascoyne, Williams, Slack, Hopkins, Jackson. Unused subs: Pierce, Arkell.

Referee: A Coggins. MoM: Jamie Reid

Reproduced from the Wilts & Glos Standard's website