Town FC appear to be going off the boil (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Town FC appear to be going off the boil

HAVING done well to keep pace with the leading Southern Premier pack for so long, Cirencester Town appear to be going off the boil in a 2-0 home defeat against Tiverton.

For on a Saturday afternoon when a strong wind and driving rain governed the pattern of play, it was a battling Tiverton that left Corinium Stadium with maximum points.

With the elements in their favour at the start, the visitors soon pushed forward and Adam Howarth had to get in two telling tackles to deny Mike Booth.

On 18 minutes, the travelling team opened the scoring after Paul Buckle had cleverly worked his way to the byline to send in a low cross.

And Stewart Yetton, making his debut after being signing from Plymouth Argyle, was well positioned to find the back of the net from six yards.

The hosts continued to defend in numbers with Tiverton taking full advantage of the wind.

Mark Bryant did well to parry a powerful header from Mike Walker after another cross from Steve Winter and, in their next build-up, Winter was the provider of another cross which saw a James Mudge header go just wide of the target.

Almost on half-time, the Cent-urions created their best chance from a Michael Jackson corner.

When the flag-kick was only half-cleared, Adi Viveash hooked the ball back into the danger area and Adam Mayo clipped it into the six-yard box where keeper Mark Ovendale did well to take Gareth Hopkins' header.

The second half opened with Cirencester trying to take advantage of the wind. Neil Arndale tried his luck from 35 yards and was only just wide.

Shortly after, Kevin Halliday and Nick Stanley stretched the Tiverton defence and the ball fell to Jackson whose powerful shot sailed just over the bar.

No matter how hard the home side tried to prise open the Tiverton defence, they were finding it difficult to create any clear-cut chances.

Halliday, though, did come very close to scoring. After picking up a loose ball, he cut past three defenders, only to be halted by keeper Ovendale who saved bravely at his feet.

Cirencester's only real chance came from Mayo with a fierce shot that at first seemed to deceive Ovendale, who grabbed the ball before it crossed the line.

With five minutes to go and with Cirencester pushing everything forward, Tiverton broke and Buckle found Yetton in space who made no mistake from a dozen yards to put the game beyond doubt.

Cirencester: Bryant, Arndale, Halliday, Mayo, Jackson, Howarth, Viveash, Stanley (Wimble 57) Hopkins, Bevan, Fitch (Griffin 84) Subs: Wotton, Richards, Robison. Referee O Langford (Wednesbury), attendance 269.