CIREN LET OFF THE HOOK AS FORESTERS MISS CHANCES THEN CLOSE OUT THE MATCH WITH TWO SUPERB STRIKES

Cirencester Town 3

Cinderford Town 1

The Foresters, getting themselves back up together under new manager Mr Weeks after an unsteady start to their season, gave the Centurions the usual rumbustious contest that happens when these local rivals meet. There was added spice in this match, Ciren having recruited several of their current squad from the Land of The Bears, with Ciren very keen to gain three points having been defeated home and away last season.

Mr Hughes had lost both his starting full backs since Saturday, Zak Westlake having tweaked ankle ligaments and now likely to be out for a month and Tom Etheridge unavailable, and had Reid sitting out his third game. Carl Brown, still sore after his battering on Saturday, started on the left side of a 4 4 2 with Ryan Parker coming in on the right. Craig Curtis, making his first full start of the season after a nasty pre-season injury, and Lee Stevens slotted into the number 2 and 3 shirts respectively.

Mr Weeks had Ben John in nets and John Lock in the heart of defence, who had followed him from his previous club. As well as taking a number of Newport County squad players on loan, he had snaffled the quick thinking Kyle Basset, who has taken us to bits regularly when playing for Clevedon, from a splinter creating long period parked on the Chippenham bench. Sam O'Sullivan up front was missing but this was a lively team and one that could create us a lot of problems.

In an end to end first half, The Foresters could have ended it 3 – 1 ahead. That they did not was due to instinctive goal keeping early on from former Forester Matt Bath, denying first Chris Hartland then Lee Hartshorn both times getting his legs on their shots when the speedy pair had surged through the Ciren defence.

Crucially, for the balance of the match, Ciren had led from the 3^rd minute and that gave them a slight margin of comfort during the frantic first half. Jody Bevan had nodded a Carl Brown centre back into the middle and John Lock chose to give former Forester Scott Griffin a shove in the back. The deadly striker beat Ben John from the penalty spot, forgetting about the saved spot kick on Saturday and rocketing his shot into the top corner..

Thereafter it was more Cinderford surging forward, with Kyle Bassett an ever present threat with his pace and guile. His strike on 5 minutes was chalked off for an over eager offside run and although they gave the Ciren defence a torrid time covering the final 35 yards Cinderford never composed themselves enough to get a shot on target.

It let the Ciren defence off the hook and gave them a chance to regroup. Though when Heal darted onto a return pass from Bassett on 18 mins and tumbled in the box it looked for a moment as if Lee Stevens had mistimed his tackle. The ref was well up with play and had seen clearly what happened..

Ciren also had pace in attack, with Ryan Parker and Carl Brown playing as out and out wingers in what looked more like a 4 - 2 - 4 home formation. Exciting it may have been but when, in spite of their escapes down the flanks, the pair failed to connect with their final pass the pressure immediately fell back on Rob Dean and Chris Thompson. Outnumbered in midfield, they were working hard to stem the Cinderford flow.

Although when Carl Brown surged through on 22 minutes for Ciren he could have shot and clinched the game there and then. Instead, he tried to set Jody Bevan up for an easy goal only for Harrison to make a superb saving tackle.

An unmarked Lewis Sommers header over the bar on 27 minutes should have notched the first Cinderford goal but the giant striker attacked the cross too early and got underneath it. To some extent, that miss seemed to deflate Cinderford.

It was also noticeable that, though Ryan Parker and Brown had at last started to play with an eye on their defensive responsibilities and the flow of passes from the Cinderford flanks dried up, it was Rob Dean and Chris Thompson who had finally clamped a grip on the midfield.

The Centurions made Cinderford pay for their first half misses on 48 minutes. Chris Thompson, coming in on the left onto a neat return inside pass from Ryan Parker, fooled the entire Foresters defence with a shrug of his shoulders before sending across a slide rule pass paced to perfection as Scott Griffin came off his marker to give himself a yard of space 20 yards out in the left corner of the area. With a moment of time to collect and turn, the shot still had to be good enough. It was perfect, just beating John's out-stretched fingertips and finding the far corner of the net.

Ciren settled then, 2-0 ahead. Dan Wallington, a half time replacement for the injured Carl Brown, was working well with Dean and Thompson in midfield as they now controlled the match. A combination of sturdy Cinderford defending and some inspired stops by Ben John kept Cirencester at bay. Until, on 59 minutes Jody Bevan, yet another former Forester, swivelled 20 yards out onto a deflection and hammered an unstoppable shot left footed into the top corner.

Ciren could have scored more goals as Cinderford came under intense pressure. Jason Welsh and Rob Hoskin were now both on the field on the hour mark as the replacement attacking pair and keen to take their opportunity. Hoskin was very dangerous up front, making the Cinderford defence work overtime and leaving them little option but to clear the ball under pressure.

Chris Thompson, calm and authoritative, kept popping into space and sending the passes on to keep his eager young team mates buzzing through the midfield. Jason Welsh sent a volley just over the bar, to make it a morale boosting 4-0, when a set of crisp passes between Wallington, Dean and Thompson let Hoskin set him up 20 yards out.

Welsh was defending a Cinderford corner at the other end of the pitch on 77 minutes when he was judged to have fouled Hartshorn on the edge of the area. Chris Hartland sent his penalty safely home despite Matt Bath getting a touch on the ball as it flew into the net for a consolation Cinderford goal.

Hoskin had been causing all sorts of problems for the Cindy defence, his movement and positioning keeping them continually looking behind them to find out where he disappeared to as he ran onto neat passes from Thommo and the cunning Rob Dean.  

In the final minute, having closed down and forced yet another last ditch clearance on the flank, he had irritated the keeper enough to get a sly stamp as the lad came back upfield. Hosk must have been bewildered to be carded having apparently infringed while lying on the turf. ho hum.

Three points, hard won and now it is the FA Trophy. Godalming are no mugs, near the top of the Ryman South though they have just lost  2 League games on the bounce. They will be battling to get their season back on track after that. Should be an interesting contest to take in after a leisurely (yeah, right!) Sunday lunch for our speccies. Many of whom will have spent their morning with Juniors or rushing to get back from a Sunday afternoon 2pm kick off

Cirencester: Matt Bath, Craig Curtis, Lee Stevens Y9, Neil Griffiths (c), Chris Thompson, Lee Tomkins, Rob Dean, Ryan Parker, Jody Bevan [Jason Welsh 61], Scott Griffin Y21 [Dan Hoskin 61 Y89], Carl Brown [Dan Wallington 45] subs: Jack Hopper, Aaron Tinson

Cinderford: Ben John Y89. Matty Sysum (c) Y15, Matt Smith Y35, John Lock, Dan Harrison [Richard Kear 80], Simon Heal Y37[Craig Tait 72], Lee Harshorn, Lee O'Connor [Ricky Manship 57], Kyle Bassett, Lewis Sommers, Chris Hartland subs: Kevin Davies, Sam Robinson

Ref: Mr P Redmond, Bicester Had to be on his pomp as he and his linos kept up with the pace of a fast and furious encounter. Even though the teams seemed intent on collecting yellow cards the arbitros managed the game with a smile and a lot of sense otherwise it could well have got out of hand. Well done all three.

Att: 166 Way above our usual night game attendance, thanks in part to at least 30 visiting fans who made a heck of a row getting behind their team. Easily in the lead as Most Entertaining and Amusing Away Fans of the Season. Great pleasure to meet Lee Evans and his Dad, Tigers stalwarts who had decided to make the trip up the hill to get a footy game. Quite a lot of 'visitors' taking in a Ciren game tonight so we must be doing something right.

In the stand was Scott Mason from our team last season but now in his seond year at Hartpury. On our policy, not one to consider. Maybe in the future when Scotty has graduated?

MoM: Week after week the fans after the match seem to pick the stand out moment of action in choosing their MoM. At long last, they saw what the team have known for many weeks, that what goes on down in the engine room is just as important. Not surprisingly, The Griff, Bathy, Dan Wallington, Rob Dean, Ryan Parker and Jody got votes. But the majority went for Chris Thompson. Quite right too.