Evo-Stik Div 1 South & West.

Cirencester Town 0 Hungerford Town 3.

HUNGERFORD TOWN gained a deserved victory at the Corinium Stadium on Saturday, although they were flattered by the 3-0 scoreline with all three goals coming in the closing minutes of each half, writes Andy Buchan.

Ciren reshuffled their midfield with Chris Taylor having moved on to Supermarine after his brief spell at the club, while Jamie Reid dropped down to the bench. Ciren were first on the attack, with Sam Collier shooting over the bar in the fourth minute and, soon after, Matt Sysum tested Hungerford keeper Paul Strudley with a header from a corner.

Having won another corner in the 24th minute, Ciren were nearly caught on the break as a fine shot from Mark Draycott was met by an equally good stop from Matt Bath.

The game was drifting to the half-time break goalless when Hungerford stunned the home side with two quick goals. In the 44th minute, a cross from the left dropped into the path of Luke Hopper and he sprinted forward before beating Bath in the bottom right hand corner.

Ciren were suddenly on the back foot and deep into first-half injury time Hungerford made it 2-0 when Sysum was harshly adjudged to have handled a thunderous shot from point blank range.

Draycott, a former Centurion like previous scorer Hopper, coolly dispatched the spot kick.

Ciren came out in the second half determined to settle the injustice of the poor penalty decision and in the 50th minute Joe Shepherd hit a shot from 25 yards which keeper Sturdley did well to save.

This was quickly followed by a Ben Wells shot which was also kept out, while Collier and Packer both went close as Ciren tried hard to get back in the game.

In the 79th minute, Hungerford substitute Harry Goodger clipped the post with a fine effort, while, at the other end, Sysum hit a powerful shot which again brought out the best in Strudley.

In the last minute of the game, Hopper made the score 3-0 when tapping into an empty net from a cross.

Cirencester Town: Bath, Allard, Dunton (Hawkins, 32), Sysum (capt), Wells, Thompson, Shepherd (Griffin, 82), Mortimer-Jones, Collier, Packer, Bennett.

Unused subs: Reid, Bailey.