No win in eight for Centurions (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

No win in eight for Centurions

A RUN of eight games without a win has plunged Cirencester Town into the Southern League Premier Division's relegation zone.

Their dismal run, incorporating six defeats, has left them second from bottom of the division.

With the bottom four teams being relegated at the end of the season, Cirencester must start accumulating points if they are to survive.

Town's defending has been inconsistent all season but a look at the league table reveals the real reason for their plight.

They are the league's lowest scorers, having netted only 15 times in 19 games.

This appalling return belies the quality of their overall play.

Opposing teams often admit Town's passing and movement is superior to theirs.

Gareth Hopkins, Cirencester's centre-forward, is a fine target-man.

He selflessly leads the line, bringing colleagues into the game and opening play up, but he does not seem a natural goal-scorer.

After last Saturday's draw with Merthyr, he said: "My overall game has been spot-on but I'm desperate to score.

"We're working on getting our wide players further up the pitch so we forwards can get on the end of things.

"I'm confident we'll turn it around as long as we keep working."

Nick Stanley, the other striker Cirencester hoped would score goals, has been tempted away by the bigger salary offered at Chippenham Town.

This was a blow because the club nurtured 19-year-old Stanley.

He was a member of Cirenceter's successful 2002-04 academy side and made his first-team debut aged 17.

Town manager, Brian Hughes, has looked far and wide for a goal-scorer but such players are football's most priceless commodity and Cirencester must operate within their budget.

Hughes' task has therefore been thankless because of competition from richer clubs.

He hopes Mark Danks, signed on a month's loan from Forest Green Rovers, is the answer.

Danks played for Rovers in a pre-season friendly against Cirencester.

Although he missed a sitter in that 0-0 draw, possibly as a result of closed-season rustiness, his movement was good, enabling him to repeatedly find space between Town's centre-halves.

Danks' pace and liveliness could be pluses but only if he brings the goals Cirencester crave.

He must also forge successful relationships his team-mates if his stay is to be extended.

This may be difficult if his pitch-side volatility is replicated in the dressing room.

His combustibility earned him a booking for scything an opponent down in his Cirencester debut and possibly contributed to his fall from favour at Rovers.

Club chairman, Steve Abbley, said: "We're in this position because we brought in the wrong players at the start of the season.

"We should've brought in another striker. Brian realises that but hindsight is wonderful. I'm concerned, obviously, but I'm confident Brian and his staff have the knowledge to get us out of trouble."