With most of our major players available this match
provided Cleevillians with 3 precious points and should ensure another
season in the 1st divison of the Hereford & Glos league.
This has been an important season for Cleevillians and one in which our
young players have gained some valuable experience.
Cirencester settled into the game quicker and it was
they who opened the scoring, albeit against the run of play, but caught
Cleevillians with the sucker punch on the break. The home side then
began to create opportunities and it was not long before Vince Clark
levelled the scores and Phil Adcock put them in front after good work
down the right by Martin Halls. With the lead came the extra confidence
and Ben Link made several good runs down the right finished with useful
crosses and it was not long before Chris Pierce had increased the led
to 3-1. As the half wore on Cleevillians put more pressure on the
Cirencester defence and the visitors found it difficult to hold on to
the ball so it was no surprise that Vince scored a fourth goal before
half time.
The second period began with another Cleevillians
goal, but, this was the last time they were to threaten Cirencester for
a good 20 minutes. After forcing a penalty corner Cirencester were then
bizarrely awarded a penalty flick as Rocky was accused of deliberately
delaying the taking of the corner as he had realised that there were
only 4 home defenders back for the corner. The outcome was for
Cirencester to convert the flick and unsettle several of the home
players.
The lack of discipline and composure on the ball led
to Cirencester scoring again and giving the home side an uphill battle
to get back in control of a game that was won at half time.
Thanks to some timely defending and covering tackles
by Shaun Flanagan the home side weathered the storm and ran out
eventual winners.
This match probably showed some of our frailties and is something we
need to work on going into next season. We need to defend as a team
better, maintain discipline throughout matches and to be much more
comfortable when in possession of the ball, but, the profit side of
this season is the experience our young players are gaining at a good
level.