Cirencester ...........20 Dursley.................. 24

#Gloucester1

Cirencester had themselves to blame after a poor opening thirty minutes gave them too much to do against a well organised Dursley side.

Dursley started well and raced into a 16 point lead through two well taken tries and a converted penalty.

Cirencester’s attitude changed on the half-hour mark with winger Sean Pritchard-Nash crossing the whitewash 5-16 at half time.

The hosts Started the second half smartly with a penalty kick from Mike Howell added a further three points with the boot following a Dursley infringement 8-16.

The away side then hit back with a penalty and an unconverted try of their own to stretch the lead to 16 points 8-24.

Ciren had lost Zeb Waite to a nasty elbow injury but they never gave up the fight and strong running from man-of-the-match Sean Beech and the rest of the forward pack led to captain Oli Newman scampering over for a converted score 15-24.

The home side now had the bit between their teeth, going close to scoring a number of times before eventually touching down out wide through veteran Alex Hammond.

The extras were missed leaving Ciren needing a try to win the match but time was not on their side however and the final whistle sounded before they could get the winning score and the match finished 24-20 in Dursley’s favour.

A frustrating afternoon for the Whiteway men who will hope to bounce backwhen they travel to eighth place North Bristol on Saturday.

After North Bristol, Cirencester have a weekend off before they face Old Colstonians at home on Saturday, March 23.

Their remaining games after that are against Old Cryptians (away) before they complete the campaign at home to Old Elizabethans at home.

The result leaves Cirencester in fourth place with just eight points between them and second place Cheltenham North and four points off third placed Old Cryptians.