Cirencester Town notch up an unbeaten 13-match sequence (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Cirencester Town notch up an unbeaten 13-match sequence

CIRENCESTER Town, who picked up a full haul of six points from last week's two Dr Martens League Western Division fixtures, have now stretched an unbeaten league sequence to 13 games.

On Saturday, Town achieved a one-goal win over a Team Bath side who put them under a great deal of pressure in the second half.

But stout defending by Gary Wotton, Alan Bird, Matthew McEntegart and Darren Robison helped the hosts come through with maximum points.

The Corinium Stadium team got the only goal of the game on seven minutes.

When a corner from Ben Fitch was not cleared, Gareth Hopkins, latching on to the loose ball, coolly found the back of the net from 12 yards.

This goal gave Town the confidence to push forward and Bath keeper Ali Hines had to pull off a great save at the feet of Hopkins.

Shortly after, Scott Griffin's goal-bound shot was blocked by Peter Tisdale. As the game progressed, Bath started to string some passes together and Luke Prince became more involved.

He made several dangerous runs down the left and, from one of them, his final cross was only half-cleared.

And Neil Saunders picked up the loose ball to unleash a powerful shot which home keeper Paul Thompson did well to save at full stretch.

In the end-to-action, Thompson did well to cut out two dangerous crosses by Mike Gillingham while, at the other end, Hines pulled off another fine save to deny Hopkins.

With half-time approaching, another break from midfield saw Saunders' powerful shot well saved by Thompson.

The second half started with Bath on the attack and, early on, they were denied a penalty when the assistant referee had already raised his flag for an earlier off-side offence.

Fitch, though, always causing the visitors problems with his pace and, from one run, his low cross found Griffin whose tremendous angled shot was only just wide of the target.

The further the game went on, the more men Bath seemed to push forward to put pressure on the home defence.

From one move, Peter Beadle had his volley headed off the line by McEntegart and, from the rebound, Tisdale's effort was parried by Thompson.

However, from the loose ball, Saunders' low shot was saved at full stretch by Thompson.

Bath were now throwing caution to the wind and pushing everybody forward and Town twice caught them on the break.

In the first, Hines pulled off another fine save at the feet of Hopkins but, shortly after, Adam Mayo's fierce shot was only inches wide of the target.

In the closing stages, it took some stout defending to keep Bath at bay. Prince saw his shot deflected for a corner and, virtually on full time, Chris Lewis shot wide when well positioned.

Cirencester: Thompson, Bird, McEntegart, Richards, Mayo, Wotton, Robison, McCabe (Wimble 86), Hopkins, Griffin (Bevan 81), Fitch (Davis 72). Subs: Fraser.

Cirencester Town started 2004 in great style with a 3-2 win at the Hand Stadium on New Year's Day.

Both sides started brightly with Ben Fitch causing the first opening with a break down the right, which was halted by a challenge from Andrews which earned him a booking.

Andy McCabe's cross was met by Fitch, but his shot lacked power and was easily gathered by Trego. But with their next attack, the visitors took the lead.

Robison's cross was knocked over the top of the home defence and Adam Mayo fired into the roof of the net from ten yards.

Following a good build-up, Mayo forced a save from Trego with an effort from the edge of the area.

The same player was unlucky when playing a one-two with Bevan before rifling a shot which rebounded off the far post.

A Ben Fitch cross caused problems for the home defence at the start of the second half.

From the resulting corner, Griffin headed wide and soon after McCabe had his shot blocked following a mazy run.

Trego then had to react smartly to deny Bevan before play switched to the other end where a loose ball fell to Colborne who atoned for his earlier miss by scoring the equaliser with an 18- yard shot.

Town brought on Gareth Hopkins for Jody Bevan who had an almost immediate effect when turning on Fitch's pass into the area to fire home from six yards.

Within a minute, Cirencester had doubled their advantage as McCabe's corner evaded the home defence to fall to Darren Robison to net from close range.

Before the end, the hosts narrowed the gap when Colborne grabbed his second of the game.

Cirencester: Thompson, Bird, McEnteggert, Richards, Mayo, Wotton, Robison, McCabe, Bevan (Hopkins 70), Griffin (Davis 83), Fitch. Attendance 219. Referee, M Blatchford.