Cirencester Town 2 Tiverton Town 1 (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Cirencester Town 2 Tiverton Town 1

AT a windswept Corinium Stadium, the Centurions were huffing and puffing but showing little sign of blowing Tiverton's house down to gain the win they needed to stave off relegation.

A 1-1 draw seemed inevitable but Lee Smith has increasingly become Cirencester's source of inspiration and it was he who fittingly eased their troubled season with their goal of the season.

It was the 86th minute and Smith collected the ball on the left, near Town's penalty area.

Accelerating along the touch-line, he left a defender trailing in his wake.

Now at full pace, yet with the ball seemingly glued to his foot, he went past a second defender, cut inside onto his favoured right foot and rode a third defender's challenge on the edge of Tiverton's area.

Having run virtually the length of the pitch, he got his head over the ball and unleashed an unstoppable 20-yard shot low past the goalkeeper's despairing dive.

With the ball nestling in the bottom left-hand corner of Tiverton's net, the stadium erupted as Smith turned to celebrate his brilliant individual goal with his ecstatic team-mates.

The final whistle went just over four minutes later.

Cirencester were safe from relegation, other results having gone their way.

No one could have anticipated such a glorious finale when Tiverton took a sixth-minute lead through a superb goal of their own.

James Mudge split Cirencester's defence with an intelligent, 15-yard pass to Richard Pears who, spotting Paul Thompson off his line, lofted a perfect, 30-yard chip over the helpless goalkeeper and into Cirencester's net.

Tiverton had lined up in a bold 3-4-3 formation and Thompson had been warned of their attacking intent as early as the second minute when turning Mudge's low, right-wing cross around his near-post.

With the elements in their favour, Tiverton were soon launching long, wind-assisted balls into their three forwards.

Fearful Cirencester's two wide midfielders, Smith and Kevin Halliday, would get around the outside of them, Tiverton attempted to compress the midfield by getting their wingbacks to drag the two flankers inside.

Smith was having none of this, foreshadowing things to come with a surging, third-minute, 60-yard run along the right touch-line that was only curtailed when Chris Holloway unceremoniously upended him.

Halliday swung the resulting free kick into the near post where unmarked Scott Griffin headed high and wide.

Griffin atoned for his miss just four minutes after Tiverton scored.

Another Smith run won Cirencester a right-wing corner.

Left-footed Halliday swung it into the near post, where the alert Griffin got across his marker.

The pace on the cross was such that Griffin only had to make contact to score and he did just that.

Cirencester were level but the wind was still in Tiverton's sails.

On 15 minutes, Tom Gould headed narrowly over after pulling away at the far post to meet Mudge's corner.

Four minutes later, Chris Bale latched onto a loose ball and sent a 25-yarder screaming just over Cirencester's bar.

The 27th minute saw Barry McConnell's corner prompt a scramble in Cirencester's penalty area.

Tiverton claimed a penalty for handball but impressive referee, Mr Tincknell, waved them away.

Mudge suffered a 30th-minute injury and was replaced by Dave Hambly.

This was fortuitous for Cirencester because his clever movement was proving a thorn in their side.

Cirencester, playing 4-4-2, ended the half in the ascendancy.

Cultured defender, Kyle Lapham, rose above Tiverton's defenders to meet Smith's corner but Gould cleared his header off the goal-line.

Three minutes later, Smith won the ball near Tiverton's penalty area and unhesitatingly hit a low, 20-yard shot that visiting goalkeeper, Mark Overndale, tipped around the post at full-stretch.

Despite having the wind in their favour in the second half, there seemed little point Cirencester punting long balls into Griffin and Scott Cowe, who was standing in for the injured Gareth Hopkins, because the two diminutive strikers had little chance winning headers against Tiverton's towering defenders.

Cirencester therefore got the ball down and imposed their passing game on Tiverton.

Nathan Haisley, Cirencester's impressive recent signing, had been bypassed for much of the first half but now started dominating midfield, constantly winning possession and exhorting team-mates to greater effort.

Smith began the second half ignominiously, being warned about diving by the referee after going down under a challenge in Tiverton's area and appealing for a penalty.

The 70th minute saw Cowe replaced by big centre-forward, Mike Symons, who gave Cirencester a target-man, while offering Tiverton a greater physical challenge.

Tiverton were increasingly relying on counterattacks and it was from one of these that they almost scored, against the run of play, in the 74th minute.

With Cirencester's defenders struggling to catch him, Bale broke away but screwed his shot horribly wide from the edge of the area.

Haisley regained the initiative for Cirencester, testing Ovendale with a 30-yard shot.

As the heavens opened to unleash torrential rain, Gould was booked for scything Griffin down.

Two minutes after Shaun Wimble had replaced Halliday on Cirencester's left, Tiverton's Darren Davies hit a 25-yard pile driver which, in the wind, snaked from side to side as it powered towards Cirencester's goal.

Thompson produced a spectacular save, tipping the ball over at full stretch.

This proved to be just as vital to Cirencester's victory as Smith's wonderful winner, which came only a minute later.

Afterwards, Smith said: "I just used my pace to get past the tackles and then I drilled the ball into the bottom corner.

"It's a good feeling because it pretty much keeps us up for next season."

Man of the match: Lee Smith (Cirencester)

Cirencester: Paul Thompson, Neil Arndale (c), Craig Fullam, Nathan Haisley, Michael Jackson, Scott Fuller, Kyle Lapham, Lee Smith, Steve Cowe Michael Symons 70, Scott Griffin, Kevin Halliday Shaun Wimble 82 Unused substitutes: Gus Fraser, Marcus Palmer, Adam Little

Tiverton: Mark Ovendale, Barry McConnell, Darren Davies, Tom Gould (Y 80), Mike Booth, Paul Milsom, Kwame Ampadu (c), Chris Bale, Richard Pears, Chris Holloway, James Mudge Dave Hambly 31 Unused substitutes: Kurt Nogan, Sam Croft, Tom Beddow, Jamie Skinner (g/k)

Referee: Mr S W Tincknell, Watford. Attendance: 201