Evo-Stik Southern Premier

Cirencester Town 1 Stratford Town 2

IT has been a case of three steps forward and one back after new boss Charlie Griffin’s fourth game in charge at Cirencester Town.

Griffin was delighted with the quality and application of his side against Hitchin, Banbury and King’s Lynn – although they had yet to record a win in his care.

But the early promise came shuddering to a halt with a lacklustre 2-1 defeat at the hands of Stratford Town on Tuesday.

Apart from the equaliser from Aidan Bennett in the 39th minute – a sharp shot on the turn – Cirencester rarely posed a threat to Stratford keeper Niall Cooper.

In contrast, pacy front duo Simeon Tulloch and Edwin Ahenkorah kept the Ciren defence honest throughout, while Liam Francis and Guy Clarke smothered what little threat Ciren posed and James Fry marshalled his midfield well.

Griffin gave home debuts to his two recent full back signings Kieran Diaz-Benitez and Sindri Scheving, while the hard-running Aidan Bennett was given a partner up front (Ka’lum Youngsam) in a 4-4-2 formation.

After a bright start by the home side, it was Stratford who went ahead on 10 minutes.

The opportunity to close down an attack on the left was spurned and when the ball came in, Jamie Sheldon hit it first time from the edge of the box, with a big deflection wrong-footing Harvey Rivers in the Ciren goal.

When Bennett fired home his stinger six minutes before the break it was the home side’s first attempt on goal. It did at least perk them up and Liddiard saw his header turned around the back post by Cooper almost on the stroke of half-time.

Stratford engineered a great chance for Ahenkorah in the 49th minute but Rivers raced out to make a great block. Unfortunately, the young Ciren defence relaxed and tuned out and when the ball came back in, Tulloch neatly volleyed it home.

In truth, Cirencester never truly threatened the Stratford goal for the remainder of the game and, uncharacteristically, didn’t show the desire necessary to turn the game around.

Indeed, Ahenkorah had a golden opportunity to end all thoughts of a fightback when given a clear sight of goal in the 88th minute, only to dither long enough for Liddiard to make a fine block.

Cirencester Town: Rivers, Diaz-Benitez, Scheving, Kilgour, Liddiard (capt), Langworthy, Elcock (Connolly, 84), Mortimer-Jones, Bennett, Youngsam (Buse, 63), Knight (Brown, 81).