Cirencester made the long journey to Cornwall for their latest league fixture to meet 7th placed Truro City.
There were a couple of changes to the starting eleven when compared with the last couple of games with central striker Bobbie Dale joining the Club on loan from Cheltenham Town for a month and Mark Pritchett returning after serving his suspension. As a result Ellis Dunton and Jacob Davidge took places on the bench alongside Ben Wells, Shayne Anson and Brad Hooper.
The weather forecast had predicted rain but Cirencester kicked off in perfect conditions for football and immediately attacked down their right flank - with Gethin Jones cutting back onto his left foot and crossing to the back post but too long for his team-mates to reach the cross.
This was followed by a narrow escape at the Centurions' end when a cross from their left flank travelled across the front edge of the 6 yard box without a connection from the defence to reach Craig Duff who had his shot blocked.
Cirencester were taking the initiative with Truro counter-attacking and in the 6th minute Truro opened the scoring when a break down their right flank produced a cross that Mark Pritchett managed to deflect with his head but as Glynn Garner came out to catch the ball he was nudged enabling
Craig Duff to dart in and score. 1 - 0.
This encouraged the home side and they began to look more assured and some determined defending was required to keep a couple of efforts at bay following a free kick on the visitors left flank.
Cirencester continued with their patient build up and after a series of passes between Ben Prictor and Ed Williams the ball was fed to Jamie Reid who switched play to the right flank and a supporting Jones who over-hit his cross to the back post.
A similar build-up involving Prictor, Reid and Williams on the left created an opening that Prictor drove through and once in the penalty area he sent a low cross from the bye-line that was deflected out for a throw-in on the right flank.
The Truro response was a long ball over the top to Dan Green, on the right side of the penalty area, his low cross was gathered at the 2nd attempt by Garner near his front post. Garner then launched the ball downfield where his counterpart, Mike Searle, advanced, miss-kicked the ball and stumbled on the front left edge of his penalty area but fortunately for him his defence covered and cleared the danger.
Shortly after this another long ball behind the home defence created problems for Shane White who was immediately put under pressure by Williams and the defenders header resulted in a corner. The corner kick was collected by Jones on the right and after twisting and turning he managed to create the space to cross the ball back towards the back left post where Leigh Henry was just unable to reach it.
Before the half time interval Truro mounted a couple of breaks down their right flank - the first of which ended when Matt Wright laid the ball back and behind the supporting Green. The second break ended when Isaac Vassell miss-controlled the ball, on the right side of the penalty area, with Wright and Green in support and in space.
Half Time: 1 - 0
Five minutes into the half Truro were awarded a free kick 5 yards outside the penalty area, slightly left of centre, that Duff and Ryan Brett lined up to take. Eventually Duff took the kick but drove it well over the crossbar.
Three minutes later Bennett made a strong run down the right side of the Truro penalty area and when his cross was cleared it fell to Reid who made a run down the same channel before pulling the ball back but again it was intercepted and kicked out of the box to be fed back in again. As Searle claimed the ball he collided with Mark Pritchett who was injured.
Truro responded immediately and Garner saved a fierce shot from Duff, who had been released into space on the left side of the area by a Vassell header, with his legs at the near post.
Cirencester then enjoyed a period of pressure and once ended, the struggling Pritchett and Jamie Reid (who had also been injured earlier) were replaced by Ellis Dunton and Ben Wells respectively.
Truro then created another good opportunity to increase their lead when a free kick in the centre circle reached Wright in space on the right edge of the 6 yard box but he made little contact with his head and Garner was able to collect comfortably.
In the 64th minute Cirencester got a foothold in the game when Prictor and Williams exchanged a couple of passes that enabled them to reach the corner of the left flank, Matt Liddiard joined them as they retained possession and fed the ball back to Ed Williams who cut back onto his right and after a couple of ‘dummies and shimmies’ he unexpectedly curled a superb strike into the top right corner of the home goal. 1 – 1.
Buoyed by this success Williams then fired in a shot from the centre edge of the area that Searle gathered at the second attempt.
Cirencester had raised the pace of the game and this was causing some problems to Truro and three minutes later they increased their lead when Ben Wells won the ball inside the Centurions half and sent a terrific low ball in behind the advanced home defence – just right of centre – that Bobbie Dale latched onto 10 yards inside the home half, held off a recovery tackle and advanced towards goal. As he neared the area Searle came out to cut down his angles and Dale calmly tucked the ball under him to score. 1 – 2.
Midway into the half Truro mounted a period of pressure on the visitors but they held firm and in the 80th minute Jones launched a high ball to the centre edge of the opposing area that Dale controlled with an assured touch and laid off to a supporting Ed Williams who side-footed into the goal. 1 – 3.
Two minutes later the lead was further increased when Jacob Davidge, who had just replaced Bobbie Dale, charged down an attempted clearance kick from Searle and the ball ran to an unmarked Aidan Bennett who was able to strike into the empty net from 30 yards, left of centre. 1 – 4.
With seven minutes of normal time remaining the much travelled and experienced Barry Hayles, who had earlier replaced the busy Dan Green, latched on to a ball and attempted to ‘chip’ Garner but his effort landed on the top of the net.
On the stroke of full time a corner kick on the right for Truro reached the edge of the 6 yard box where it rebounded off two home players enabling Garner to gather.
Final Score: 1 - 4
The first half was a fairly tepid affair with the two sides cancelling one another out despite their differences in style. Cirencester were the more patient in build-up but few clear chances were created whilst Truro broke quickly but lacked composure at the vital moment and were often caught ‘offside’.
Truro had opened the scoring with a ‘soft’ goal but the game changed when Cirencester increased the pace of the game in the second half.
The opening Cirencester goal was a ‘stunner’ and encouraged the Centurions to push on and the other three goals came as a result of this increased pace.
A solid team performance with everyone playing their part.
Once again Ed Williams was heavily involved going forward and James Mortimer-Jones in tidying up but particular mention must be made of Matt Liddiard’s performance as he must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch during the match.
Attendance: 401
Referee: Adrian Tranter
sheet for birthday boy keeper Kyle Moore has lifted Truro up to fifth in the Southern League premier division table and right in the battle for a place in the end of season play-offs