STREETWISE OXFORD CITY TOO GOOD FOR CIRENCESTER IN AN END TO END FA CUP TIE

Oxford City 2

Cirencester Town 0

Ciren made two instantly punished defensive misjudgments against an effective but by no means superior Premier Division team in this FA Cup tie. More than matching their competitive and well organised hosts for much of the game, they fell behind to a well worked corner on 18 minutes then lost focus again on 73 minutes to concede a clinching second goal. Oxford keeper Richard Knight had to make five solid saves, capping his performance with a last minute penalty stop

Another long report but this really was a cracking match, even if the result was 'wrong' for us. It could have been so different. On 4 minutes Scott Griffin diddled Andy Gunn outrageously out on the left, sent in a searching cross and Rob Dean came storming in. In spite of being eased off the ball as the taken by surprise Clarke leapt and leaned back into him, Deano still connected with the centre. But the nudge had him putting his header within the grasp of the eyes open, quick reacting Richard Knight. Instead of finding his intended target in the open corner of the goal Deano had just a miss to rue.

Oxford at once realised they had a game on their hands and tightened up their covering admirably well. Janes and Malone worked like mad to deny the Ciren midfield time and space, closing down the angles. Andy Baird, still wearing the number 9 presumably in memory of his many years as a rumbustious, no nonsense striker was massively effective at centre half and won every ball put through the middle.

Nevertheless, the movement and trickery of Griffin and Brown kept making openings for Ciren. Within the next 10 minutes Carl Brown was twice within inches of connecting with astute through passes by Griffin, both times foiled at the last moment by lunging clearances by the Oxford back line. On 15 minutes, Brown's movement had Savage looking both ways as another Griffin pass speared into the right side channel, and he turned the defender to go clear into the box.

Knight set himself and did not commit until the shot had gone away. Speared for just inside the near post, the keeper got down and smothered it. Knight may nowadays be several Maccie D's above his proper playing weight but that has taken nothing away from his experience and ability to read the angles and believe in his safe hands.

Oxford had played neat football up to the edge of the Cirencester penalty area but had not been able to make their final pass count. But the visiting defence were caught out on 18 minutes when Mark Janes took a corner on the right. Jody Bevan had the near post space to look after but was caught when Lee Steele wandered into the middle then suddenly checked out to go back towards the kicker and was massively unmarked.

The ball was played to him at once and he put Janes back into play with a neat back heel that left him clear to go in on the bye-line. Lee Steele was already coming back into the middle and, although Neil Griffiths had seen the danger and had come hurtling in to block, Janes found him with a perfect cut-back pass and the predatory striker first time slotted home under the bar from 10 yards. Top quality goal, that. We had been comprehensively mugged.

Ciren came back and peppered chances in on Knight. Rob Dean, running onto a neat midfield pass from Chris Thompson who had unobtrusively but hugely effectively started to boss the key spaces in midfield, ran on and sent in a snorter that bounced up and forced Knight into a misfield. Jody Bevan had not sensed the opening and Knight had got time to retrieve when we should have been roaring in and sniffing for the chance.

Mark Bell forced a superb leaping stop out of Matt Bath when Janes ran in from the right, the cross was half cleared and the spare striker calmly controlled, and stepped inside Zak Westlake before hammering for goal. Good move – good save. Ciren were still in it, just.

Janes had possibly the best chance of all when Neil Griffiths underhit a routine clear up ball back to Matt Bath and the lad was through the gap inside Egg to collect and get into the box. Shot hard and low for the middle of the goal but Bath got down quickly and got a leg to the ball. On 40 minutes Darren Pond had a clear shot, played in behind the defence and found with a cute pass from Bell but he scooped wastefully wide.

I was not impressed, but then again it was hardly surprising, when Oxford tried to solve the Griffin Brown problem by getting to them before the ball arrived. It was up to the ref and his linos to do something about it but they missed it. Clarke twice escaped detection when he took first Jody Bevan and then Carl Brown off the ball when swift Ciren attacks had ended with dangerous crosses into the box. Ciren had to stand up to the cynical but effective last gasp defending of the Oxford back line but instead were being bundled off the ball without working their way around the challenge of no nonsense if somewhat close to the margin defending.

Second half, Lyndon Tomkins was replaced early on by Craig Curtis when he went down in midfield. I'd seen the challenge for the ball and if Lee Steele had left his mark on the departing defender it was certainly an accident. Oxford were impressive with their calm clear up passing play out of defence as Ciren pressed but were unable to get beyond the defiant Neil Griffiths and Curtis as they pushed for the clinching second goal.

Again, it was Ciren starting to make the play in the final third though Matt Bath had to be alert to deny Mark Janes when he was put into the box by the irrepressible Steele. Bathy blocked the shot and Lee Stevens was on hand to belt the ball away. But much of the second half play was threatening Knight.

He was more than up to the test, blocking a Griffin shot on 60 minutes then decisive when yet another perfect Griffin pass freed Brown into the box only for the keeper to get a strong hand to his fierce cross shot. That was a corner but again the ref missed it. Browner seemed to be putting his head in his hands an awful lot this match but to his credit he kept his mouth shut, and kept on showing for the ball with or without a large fellow hanging onto his shirt tails.

The match had been simmering from time to time with ill-intent and boiled over on 69 minutes. Malone went in on Tom Etheridge over the top to receive an immediate red card and collect his second dismissal in two successive matches. Etheridge had appeared to retaliate and collected a second yellow to also be dismissed. I'm not really sure where or how the ref saw an infringement, Egg being involved only in getting himself back up off the deck before all the players piled in.

Maybe the ref had been influenced by the fact that minutes before Egg had taken Clarke late when the defender had dawdled in trying to send a message all the way down from his brain to his feet.. But Egg needs to curb his enthusiasm – a quarter of the season gone and already 6 yellows chalked up.

Pressing for an equaliser, Ciren conceded a second goal on 73 minutes when on a counter attack Oxford worked the ball neatly up the right. Clarke, not at all impressive defensively, was still confident enough to get up the Oxford right flank in support. With Lee Stevens now covering the flank Egg had previously patrolled Clarke got a ball laid back inside to him with Stevens fatally still stranded outside him and ball watching. Craig Curtis, now exposed by that defensive carelessness, dived in and clipped Clarke but the lad had got up a head of steam and the ref allowed the advantage. Correctly. Much to my dismay, Stevo was still standing, watching.

Clarke did it exactly right, had the ball and ran at Neil Griffiths inside the box, dipped his shoulder and was past him. The clever Steele had gone to collect, had stumbled when Clarke survived his clip but recovered his balance to go racing back to get inside the box. Inevitably, with the Ciren defence twisting in the wind, Lee Steele was again in space to sidefoot beyond Bath and inside the far post when the cut back came to him. You have to say that was a classy goal, taken well but created in an instant when the defensive covering had switched off.

Clarke, with his tail up, went surging through again minutes later and got all the way into the box as the defenders thought about tackling but could not get themselves into a position to stop him. The cross shot beat Bath but also the far post. Ciren could have crumbled but again dragged themselves back into the game to give Oxford a ding dong final 15 minutes.

Knight again had to stand up and save from Brown on 74 minutes and then did very well to beat out a cunning Griffin free kick after the Oxford back line had again cynically taken Brown out when he had gone for a through pass. Knight had been in cool command of his goal area all match but had his bit of luck when Chris Thompson, who had virtually single handed competed for Ciren all through the midfield, went to meet a short corner and guided the ball over the defence and into the middle.

Knight did a complete, slow motion, pirouette as Rob Hoskin and Andy Baird both plunged in to connect as the ball kissed the bar and bounced down. No idea if Baird was more intent in keeping Hosky away from the ball though in the mood he was in and the way he was playing I'd bet he was more intent on kicking the ball clear. Whatever, down it bounced and Knight thankfully flopped on it. Another chance gone.

On 88 minutes Andy Baird, a defensive rock at the heart of the Oxford defence, was finally beaten as Andy Hoskin was already moving onto Griffin's nod across and went past him with a change of pace. The consequent spot kick was well saved by Knight, guessing correctly and going right to get a hand to Griffin's fierce shot. Maybe it was at a saveable height but it certainly was travelling. Again, he could not hold it.

Griff beat him to the race to retrieve the loose ball but the 'keeper stood up and Ballard did tremendously well to get himself back and into the gap between Griff and the 'keeps. Between them the defensive pair blocked Griff's second effort away. Again, fully switched on defending by Oxford.

There were some in the travelling Centurions who were critical of their team. Sure, there were moments when Stevens had been exposed as the ball had pinged in, or Jody had been going in the wrong direction when the ball had pinged in, and Browner and Griff just could not quite find the angle to put their efforts past Knight.

But that is not to give enough credit to a Ciren team who more than matched a very well set up Oxford. The difference between the teams was tiny. Ciren just could not find those two moments of defensive awareness when two excellent goals got the right team into the next round of the cup. We are a good team now, getting better with every game and with a nice balance in the squad. We'll win far more than we lose this season.

Oxford: Richard Knight, James Clarke, David Perpetuini, Dave Savage [Michael Akexis 67], Darren Pond Y90, Andy Gunn (c) [Andy Ballard 79] , Mark Janes, Liam Malone R 69, Andy Baird, Lee Steele, Mark Bell [Jamie Brooks 61]

subs: Milan Barascic g/k

Cirencester: Matt Bath, Zak Westlake, Tom Etheridge Y 53 Y69, Neil Griffiths (c), Chris Thompson, Lyndon Tomkins [Craig Curtis 48], Rob Dean [Dan Wallington 79], Lee Stevens, Jody Bevan [Rob Hoskin 77], Scott Griffin, Carl Brown

subs: Jason Welsh, Keith Knight

Ref: Mr A Field, Chesham Personally, I thought he could have worked out the difference between legitimate efforts to get the ball and the times when the attacker had the defender beaten and chose to take the attacker off the ball. Baird, famous in the past for his shall we say work very close to the edge, was admirable in the way he seemed as if he needed to do that but instead bet on himself to win all the contests the proper way. But, in an end to end match the ref certainly was up with play and even when he made an error of perception his decisions were not contested. Credit to both clubs for that. The ref must have appreciated it.

Att: 311 Obviously Oxford drew a few more than their regular fans but I was impressed by the large number of Ciren fans who came across the Cotswolds, including a very cheerful mob from The Forest who decided their day out would be to cheer on all the ex-Foresters in the Ciren ranks today. And to see if they could drink the bar dry. They succeeded in both objectives. We put a lot of pennies over the bar for our hosts in that one!

MoM: For me Richard Knight and Andy Baird were the outstanding players in this match.. The Ciren votes were split, Griff, Browner, Deano, Zak and Neil Griffiths getting mentions. Matt Bath deservedly won the overall count. For me, again outstanding today was Chris Thompson.

PS Nice little video of the match by The FA . Worth a look – the info is on the Forum.