Evo-Stik Southern Premier

Cirencester Town 1 Slough Town 3

SLOUGH TOWN will christen the 3G pitch at their new Arbour Park home on Bank Holiday Monday in second place in the league after a comfortable success at Cirencester Town.

The Rebels have been using Beaconsfield’s ground as their home base for the last seven years but on the evidence of this impressive 3-1 success, their first season in a new home could see them mounting a serious Southern Premier challenge.

Cirencester, meanwhile, are enduring a crisis of confidence and an early-season run of games against the top sides in the division is not helping. It gets no easier as they face a trip to league leaders Chippenham on Monday, when they will again be without James Mortimer-Jones and Scott Bevan.

Boss Brian Hughes had called this week for his players to draw first blood in the Slough game; instead they were behind in the fourth minute as Gavin James (lively, quick and strong all afternoon) moved unchallenged on to a pass into the area and his angled shot eluded Town keeper Harvey Rivers.

Town could have been level three minutes later when Charlie Griffin found himself in space inside the box but uncharacteristically he dragged his shot wide.

The Rebels were dominant in the opening half hour and appeared not to have any weak links; Lee Togwell ran the show in midfield, Guy Hollis’ long throws created havoc, Lewis Putman and Warren Harris were fast and direct down either flank and James was a handful up front.

Having said that, Ciren finished the first half the stronger; former Swindon stopper Mark Scott had to be at his best to keep out a Griffin free kick and bang on half-time Ross Langworthy cleverly scooped the ball over a defender but then dragged his shot left of the target.

Ciren did get back in the game against the run of the play in the 65th minute when Griffin pounced on a loose ball, rounded Scott and made the tight angled shot back between the posts look easy.

Parity lasted just four minutes however. A Ciren attack broke down on the halfway line and the ball was fed to Putman whose change of pace in the box set up the chance to again beat Rivers with an angled shot across his body.

Slough ended the game as a contest when a good cross field ball sent Harris scampering clear. His precise chipped cross to the back post tempted Rivers but the stretching Ciren ‘keeper could not get his fingertips on the ball and James had the easy task of nodding it home from two yards.

Ciren’s under pressure centre backs James Coates and Ben Brown did well at times to thwart the Slough threat, but the home midfield lost their battles today and the forwards will have to increase the conversion rate of their chances if the side is to prove competitive. Cirencester Town: Rivers, Lapham, Bennett, Coates, Liddiard (capt), Brown, Taylor (Youngsam, 82), Connolly, Griffin, Knight (Smith, 72), Langworthy.

Unused sub: Jody Bevan.