The Robins went into the game buoyed from last week's win over local rivals Carterton but were forced a make a few changes for the visit of Cirencester.

Both goalkeepers, Mike Hedges and Charles Steward were unavailable so reserve 'keeper Ashley Ward played for the home side. Matt Cheetham came in for captain Steve Olphert who was attending a wedding while James Mortimer-Jones was also absent. James Fleming dropped back into midfield and with Mike Solan as centre forward, Rob Hoskin was employed on the left hand side.

Clanfield couldn't have asked for a better start as they went 2-0 up inside five minutes and looked at one point as though they would cruise to a comfortable victory.

James Fleming scored the first after just two minutes with a carbon copy of his goal against Carterton. Adam Smith linked up with John Edmonds down the right as Fleming made a run from midfield. He was found with a lovely ball from Edmonds and cooly sidestepped the goalkeeper before rolling the ball into the empty net.

It was soon 2-0 after Hoskin took a quick free-kick on the halfway line and played a one-two with Benji Williams. Hoskin continued running with the ball towards goal unopposed as Fleming made an effective run which took a defender away and opened it up for the striker. Just as he reached the edge of the penalty area Hoskin managed to get off a powerful strike which found the top corner before he was clattered by a Cirencester defender.

The early 2-0 lead seemed to make Clanfield a bit complacent as they failed to get their passing game into gear throughout the match. Cirencester grew into the match and got a few chances but Ward kept them at bay.

However, after 30 minutes Cirencester got back into the game and halved the deficit. A quick throw-out from Ward caught Smith off-guard and his hurried clearance resulted in a Cirencester player going through on goal. His effort rolled underneath the foot of Ward as he attempted to keep the ball out with his feet.

Cirencester pushed for an equaliser for the remainder of the first half but were unable to force the ball home when some great opportunities were presented to them.

The second half was an uneventful 45 minutes with the referee preventing either side to build any sort of momentum with his constant free-kicks and odd decisions.

Cirencester were playing with the wind in the second half but failed to cause Ward any real problems in the Clanfield goal as the debutant helped his side by claiming any crosses and corners that came into the box.

Clanfield's defence dealt with anything that Cirencester threw at them and ground out a victory in a similar fashion to the previous two weeks.

Cirencester may not have a win on the board this season but they were energetic and will give any side a tough match. They harried the Clanfield players all over the pitch and refused to roll over despite going 2-0 down very early on.

Although it wasn't a convincing performance by Clanfield they will be pleased with another three points to make it nine points out of a possible nine.