Gloucester Premier
Barton Hill 36
Cirencester 5
CIRENCESTER travelled to Barton Hill buoyed by two wins on the bounce, but they were brought down to earth by their hard-running rivals.

On blustery but fine day, the Bristol side started the game with pace and power, asking questions of the Ciren defence.

The pressure was unrelenting and finally turned into points from a penalty for the home side.

Straight from the restart the heavier and more experienced Barts’ forwards maintained their dominance of the possession, and thanks to some weak Ciren tackling were able to make great gains, which saw them run in three tries.

As the game approached half-time the away side did discover some passion and moved the ball well. But ultimately they were unable to finish off some good approach play and went to the break 22-0 down.

The second half started as the first ended with Ciren now playing with some intent and direction. Tom Woodward finished off a great passage of play out wide with a try, although the conversion was missed.

The score galvanised the away side who were now in full flow putting pressure on the Barts’ defence, but they were not troubling the score board as finishing was far from clinical.

As the game wore on, the tiring Ciren side was hit with two counter attacks from Barts who showed a precision and power in their finishing which Ciren were lacking.

By the final whistle, Barts had enjoyed a comfortable 38-5 win.

James Renowden, the Cirencester captain, will now have to lift his troops ahead of their next game in the Gloucester Premier when host Cheltenham Saracens at The Whiteway on October 21.

Cirencester’s 2nd XV also lost to Spartans 2s at the Whiteway, the full-time score being 7-43.

Cirencester director of rugby, Andy Deacon said: “Following two poor results at the weekend, we require a reaction that will start at training.

“A positive mind set, clinical video analysis and bags of enthusiasm are required by all!”