Clevedon Town 2 Cirencester Town 2
Clevedon welcomed Cirencester Town to the Hand Stadium. It’s and old cliché but this certainly was a game of two half’s, as Clevedon dominated the first and Cirencester worked their socks off in the second to earn point from this match.
Manager Phil Bater’s injury worries continued with Mike Trought out with a twisted knee, however, Geraint Bater returned to the substitutes bench after his long injury spell. Recent loan signing Craig Loxton was drafted straight into the starting line-up.
Both sides started the match at a frantic pace, but it was Clevedon who with a strong wind behind them took control of the first half with some dangerous forays into visitors half. The first opportunity fell to Mitchell Page in the 12th minute, when he was released by Kyle Bassett, however, visiting keeper Matty Bulman was able to smother the ball at the young strikers feet. Clevedon continued to apply pressure on the visitors defence and it came as no surprise when they opened the scoring in the 17th minute, Danny Haines whipped in a superb free kick for Symons and Sylvester who were bearing down on the visitors goal, defender Aaron Stevens, could only watch in horror as he netted and contributed to the Seasiders first recorded own goal of the season.
One nil up... Clevedon dominated the rest of the half with Kyle Bassett and Kris Leek ripping through the Centurions rear guard. Mike Symons rifled a 30 yard shot just wide of the mark as Bassett came close to doubling the home sides lead in the 36th minute when he beat the keeper only to see his attempt on goal skim the crossbar. However, for all their first half dominance, Clevedon could not increase their superior playing advantage and the half ended 1-0 to the home side.
Centurions Manager Paul Hunt clearly had words with his players during the interval as they started the second half looking the more workmanlike of the two sides, competing for every ball and, working their socks off in an attempt to get back into this game. Their endeavours paid off in the 62nd minute, a lax of concentration in home defence allowed Lee Milineaux to head home a equaliser from Andrew Chapman’s free-kick. However the visitors celebrations were cut short from the restart, loan signing Craig Loxton split the visitors defence to allow Kyle Bassett to shoot across Bulman into the bottom corner and restore Clevedon’s lead. Undeterred, and with a strong wind behind them the visitors continued to work hard as they went in search of another equaliser. Both sides were reduced to ten men in the 84th minute, Bristol Referee, Mr Neville Brimming, showed straight red cards to Clevedon’s Josh Brigham and Cirencester’s Andrew Chapman after a heated 20 player touchline melee involving a large quantity of invisible handbags. Order was restored and the match continued with the visitors throwing everyone forward and they were rewarded in the 4th minute of added time, when keeper Matty Bulman’s free kick found Ashan Holgate whose back-header looped over Danny Greaves to level the score and earn the visitors a hard won point.
In the end a draw was a fair result, although Clevedon dominated the first half, their inability to kill the game off cost them all three points as a workmanlike Cirencester deserved to get something out of this match. Clevedon are in Errea Cup Semi-final action this Tuesday night, when they travel to Division One South & West League leaders Didcot Town.
Gallery
Team Sheet
| No: | Name: | Sub: | Goal: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greaves | ||
| 2 | Davies | ||
| 3 | Haines | ||
| 4 | Leek | ||
| 5 | Hendy | ||
| 6 | Scott (Capt) | ||
| 7 | Sylvester | ||
| 8 | Loxton | ||
| 9 | Page | ||
| 10 | Symons | ||
| 11 | Bassett | 1 | |
| 12 | Prosser | 8 | |
| 14 | Brigham | 2 | |
| 15 | Bater | 7 | |
| 16 | - | ||
| 17 | - | ||
| Own Goal | Stevens | 1 |
Match Details
| Date: | 01/03/08 |
|---|---|
| Competition: | British Gas Business Southern League Premier Division |
| Opponents: | Cirencester Town |
| Venue: | The Hand Stadium Davis Lane Clevedon North Somerset BS21 6TG |
| Half Time: | 1 - 0 |
| Full Time: | 2 - 2 |
| Attendance: | 215 |
| Match Report: | Steve Webb |
| Photographs: | Tony Merrett |
| Match Sponsor: | - |
| Match Ball Sponsor: | - |
| Notes: |
Downloads
| Appearances & Goal Scorers | Word Document |
|---|---|
| Team Sheet Matrix | Excel Document |