Cirencester Sport

Ciren can't hang on to victory after Mortimer-Jones volley puts them in front

By Danny Hall

7:12pm Saturday 28th January 2012

Evo-Stik Southern Premier.

Cirencester Town 1, AFC Totton 2.

TOTTON maintained their title challenge by coming from behind to beat Cirencester, despite going down to ten men for the final 20 minutes.

Again, Ciren will feel they deserved something from the game for their dogged display, especially after a brilliant strike a minute before the interval from James Mortimer-Jones had given them the advantage.

Totton dominated all over the pitch in terms of height and physical presence but a pugnacious Ciren side competed furiously to limit the high flying visitors to just two chances in the first half – and this despite losing their midfield rock Nathan Davies half an hour in with a hamstring pull.

Debuting Cirencester Academy goalie Charles Steward earned his spurs in the 15th minute when tipping over a glancing Jamie Whisken header off a wicked cross from the powerful and direct Michael Gosney. In the 36th minute, Whisken was off target with another headed chance.

Scott Griffin, was getting no change from the towering Totton backline, although he did manage to force a decent full length save from Daniel Thomas in the 22nd minute. He was again denied by a last-ditch block in the 36th minute after a canny through ball from Lee Smith had set up a near-post chance.

Then, with a minute left of the half, James Mortimer-Jones pounced on a ball on the edge of the box, took a touch and crashed an unstoppable volley past Thomas and in off the underside of the bar.

The game became more end to end in the second half and under-pressure Ciren right back Scott Claridge thundered a defensive header against his own crossbar six minutes into the half.

Jon Else, Ciren’s best outlet, got two shots away without really testing Thomas and Totton left back Tom Baddeley did well to contain the foraging run to the edge of the box of impressive sub Aiden Bennett.

Totton began to crank up the pressure around the hour mark. Steward did well to save from Jonathan Davies before the visitors got back in the game after a hotly disputed free kick on the wide right of the area. The ball from Gosney came in at pace and Whisken buried the first rebound in the 66th minute.

But Totton were soon rocked by the dismissal of Davies. Yellow carded for a callous foul on Else in the first half, he was sent from the field for dissent to a linesman on 71 minutes.

Sensing a lifeline, Ciren now enjoyed their best spell of the match. Griffin’s diving header from a fiercely struck Smith cross went wide and Zak Westlake should have done better with a free header he put wide from a corner.

From a couple of other cleared corners, Else and Wayne Turk sent back long-range volleys which failed to hit the target.

Significantly, Ciren’s corners with cleared with interest, while a Totton corner in the 84th minute bounced around the six-yard box until Stefan Brown turned sweetly and rammed it home to maintain the vast gulf in the table between the two sides. On another sour note, frustrated Town boss Brian Hughes was sent to the stands after an altercation with referee Brian Durie in the wake of a series of decisions not going his side’s way.

Cirencester Town: Steward, Claridge, Dunton (Bevan, 88), Gunn, Davies (Bennett, 33), Westlake, Turk, Mortimer-Jones (capt), Smith (Bryant, 75), Griffin, Else.

Unused sub: Dunn.

Ciren MoM: James Mortimer-Jones.

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