Ciren just miss out

Wood 0 Cirencester 3 - Harry Ash reports, pictures by Brian Rossiter

Shortwood, despite a good performance, were defeated by a clinical Cirencester Town on Saturday, but the visitors agonisingly missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

Cirencester took the lead with less than five minutes played, the dangerous Ben Whitehead heading Will Tunnicliffe’s cross over Price and into the net. Shortwood moved the ball with a fluency that has not been seen (at home) for a long time, but struggled for incisiveness in the final third. Eight minutes before half time, a lofted ball from Rich Thwaite found Jordan Morris, who accelerated down the right-hand side, but his eventual shot from a tight angle was deflected behind for a corner. From said corner, Cirencester were able to break, with Whitehead passing wide to Tommy Anderson, who then pulled the ball back to Whitehead, but his left-footed finish from eight yards went well wide of Price’s goal.

The second half not only exacerbated Shortwood’s goal difference this season but also their disciplinary record, as five players were booked. Aidan Bennett, making his 300th appearance for the club, doubled Cirencester’s lead with just over an hour played after Price was caught out by Will Christopher’s cross, and only managed to push the ball to the far post, where Bennett was waiting to head into the empty net. Two minutes later, Shortwood created their best chance of the match when Alex Kibble floated a pass over to Yesh Lomotey, but, ten yards out, his weak left-footed shot was easily gathered by Mateusz Wieczorek. Lomotey was denied again moments later when Alexandru Albert’s header seemed to have released him through on goal, but a fine last ditch challenge from Adam Connolly extinguished the danger. In the sixty-seventh minute, just a few minutes after Lomotey’s missed chance, Ciren had scored their third, again from a Tunnicliffe cross, as this time Alan Griffin floated a header over the stranded Price.