Friendly

Cirencester 1

Westberries 3

CIRENCESTER Ladies' first XI suffered their initial defeat of the season, fortunately with no impact on the league position, writes Rachel Seymour.

Despite being a friendly, Bristol-based Westberries fielded a strong side with a mixture of their top teams. Their firsts play at a higher level than Ciren in Premier 2a.

Cirencester played a good first half, scoring an early goal via Michelle Cobb on a short corner. New players Faye Webber and Megan Poole made some great attacking runs, linking well with Alex Neilson to set up numerous attacks.

Cirencester won plenty of short corners but struggled to convert them.

In the second half Cirencester lost some of their structure and kept giving the ball away all over the pitch. The game ended 3-1 to Westberries.

The friendly was a good opportunity to introduce new players, try people in different positions and compete against stronger opposition.

While the ladies' third XI enjoyed a rest, the ladies' second XI played their final league game before the Christmas break, losing 3-2 at Badgers.

It was left to the lower ladies' team to provide the only win of the weekend. The experience of the team and determination to keep possession limited the Thornbury attacks and ensured a 3-0 win.

De Cymru & The Marches One

Cardiff Met 3

Cirencester 2

CIRENCESTER’S first XI squandered a 2-1 away lead at Cardiff Met before losing 3-2. Despite this loss, the side remain second in their league, writes Chris Pollard.

This match saw Harry Whittle mark his debut for the senior side, and remarkably he collected his fourth consecutive Man of the Match award. Central defender Whittle, a former Taunton Vale player and first-year student at the Royal Agricultural University, was typically modest.

"It was disappointing to lose, but I was pleased with my performance," he said.

The goals for Cirencester were scored by Rob Carmichael and GB College’s Charlie Partridge.

Cirencester face mid-table Ross-on-Wye at Deer Park School on Saturday and will be hoping to collect all three points in the final league game before the break.

Cirencester’s second XI hosted Cardiff Met D, and secured all three points in a nail-biting 3-2 contest. With many changes reflecting injuries to the squad, Cirencester were slow to settle into a steady rhythm and 'keeper Mark Southgate was relieved to see the post come to his rescue in the second minute.

Five minutes later a break down the right resulted in a clear shot on goal and Cirencester found themselves behind. As the half wore on Ciren started winning the midfield battle and shortly before the interval, Tommy Stopper’s shot rebounded to Ollie Latter who smashed the ball home to draw level.

It was one-way traffic in the first period of the second half with Ollie Jones, Oscar Snowball and Stopper bossing the midfield. Cirencester’s second goal came from a well-rehearsed penalty corner move resulting in Latter picking up his second.

Cirencester’s third goal was a remarkable accident. A cross from James Meredith went 20 feet in the air, clearing the circle, but Bob Lamble was on hand to trap the ball deftly and slip it to Latter to complete his hat-trick.

In the last 10 minutes, Ciren sat back and having conceded a well flicked penalty corner goal, the final whistle was welcomed and the side moved away from the relegation zone.

This weekend's game is at Llanishen & Caerphilly in a proverbial bottom-of-the-table six-pointer.

Elsewhere, the third XI found visiting Gloucester B too hot to handle, and despite playing attractive hockey were 4-0 down at half time.

The second half saw too many Cirencester attacks squandered and Gloucester showed their class on the break adding a further five goals. The 9-0 win takes Gloucester B in contention for promotion.

The fourth XI playing Gloucester C came away empty-handed after a fine performance from forwards Ben Saunders and Will Jarvis. In the 4-1 loss, Cirencester’s goal was from penalty corner specialist Dave Hall.