RUGBY: Andy Deacon earns the family bragging rights as Cirencester beat Longlevens

Longlevens 17 Cirencester 34

CIRENCESTER had to fight hard to secure a much-needed bonus-point win at Longlevens which maintained pressure at the top end of the Gloucester Premier table.

With the two teams above them facing relatively easy tasks the men from The Whiteway knew that nothing short of five points would be good enough.

The match began with Cirencester winning the early territorial battle and they found themselves 6-0 up within 15 minutes thanks to the boot of scrum half Jack Lister. However, some poor handling errors and lethargy in attack prevented Ciren opening up a meaningful lead. Any hopes of Longlevens rolling over quickly disappeared as they scored two quick tries in a powerful seven-minute burst to take a 12-6 lead.

Cirencester found the necessary response. Following a solid drive from a line-out that took play close to the Longlevens line, some quick ruck ball following a strong carry from wing Mike Wrona allowed centre James Isaacs to crash over from close range. Lister converted to make the score 13-12. However, Ciren's lead was short-lived and Longlevens regained the advantage with the last play of the first half, smashing over from short range after several powerful carries.

The Longlevens line-up included Andy Deacon's son Ollie and nephew Martin and the Cirencester director of rugby emphasised the family pride at stake in this encounter to his troops at half-time.

The response was immediate and within 90 seconds of the restart replacement scrum half Darren Moore freed Isaacs who sprinted away powerfully for his second score to give the visitors a 20-17 lead.

Cirencester now hit a ten-minute patch that saw some attacking urgency and captain Will McCarthy soon crashed over to widen Cirencester's lead to ten points.

With the match drawing to a close and with Longlevens pressing hard, it took the very last play of the match for Cirencester to secure the bonus point. An over-thrown Longlevens line-out found its way to centre Dave Evans who carried hard to the line before freeing Wrona, who powered clear of the defence to run in from 50 metres.