Wealdstone 2 – 2 Cirencester Town
Wealdstone2 - 2
Cirencester TownAu unchanged Stones struggled for the first hour but despite falling behind twice came back to draw, finishing the better of the two sides this afternoon against Cirencester Town – the first time the clubs had met in league competition.
Stones last played Cirencester in the Amateur Cup in the 68-69 season when Wealdstone ran out winners, but despite a bright start, toady it was the visitors who looked the better side for most of the match.
The ‘Cirens’ forced Stones back and never allowed the midfield to get into the game, Wing back Smith causing a number of problems as he pushed forward and knocked in some good crosses. He also opened the scoring on 9 minutes as he broke down the right flank at speed, leaving the Stones defence trailing. As he broke into the box, most people expected a cross to his forwards at the far post, but he chose to drive a low hard shot into the far corner of the net beyond Armand’s dive from 18 yards.
The visitors continued to dominate and could have scored a couple more in the few minutes before Stones equaliser, as a mixture of bodies and ability blocked the visitors attempts, before Stones broke free and won a corner from a misplaced header. The visiting defence was made to pay dearly as Papali reacted quickest to stab the ball home from 4 yards in the 14th minute.
This settled Stones a little and seemed to make the visitors more cautious, as Stones got back into the game for a spell, but before the half hour, the visitors again were pressuring the home side, though without causing too many problems at the back.
The second half started in similar vein and on 66 minutes, a swift move saw Smith turn provider as he hit a long cross to the back post which Richards headed home, the Stones defence seemingly rooted to the spot as he rose to the header, giving Armand no chance.
A couple of minutes later Manager Gordon Bartlett made a triple substitution to change the shape of the Stones side and it worked well, as three minutes later Papali chased a ball into the visitors penalty box. He was pushed to the ground and got up to score the equaliser from the spot on 73.
The new shape gave Stones the upper hand and a great run from Rosboud should have seen another penalty awarded as Regis palmed the final cross away, only for a corner to be awarded. Montgomery, Papali and Cort all had efforts on goal as Stones pushed for the win, but it wasn’t to be – a draw probably a fair result in the end, but with better final ball and finishing, the visitors may have made the game safe before half time….
Wealdstone: John Armand, Jay Carbon, Lee Chappell, John Christian s70 Stanislav Rosboud, Kevin Swift, Stuart Bamford 63, Gavin Bamford s70 Dave Lawrence, Chris O’Leary 48, Dean Papali 14,73p, Matt Gooderick s70 Wayne Cort, Graeme Montgomery, Subs Not Used: Fergus Moore, Stuart Goodall
Harrow Times – Steve Spaull
LAST season at Chestnut Avenue was a frustrating one for Wealdstone as they repeatedly failed to win home games against teams of similar ability. This season is showing similar signs, with this game being a perfect example.
It looks like being, for the most part, a very evenly-contested Southern league this season, so victories, especially at home, need to be achieved.
During the early exchanges, Smith, in the Cirencester right wing-back role, was getting possession in a lot of space, space which he utilised to the full when opening the scoring after ten minutes, cutting in from the right and firing low beyond John Armand’s dive.
The lead for the visitors was to last just four minutes. A corner from the left led to a couple of missed clearances at the near post, the ball eventually falling for Dean Papali to thump it past Cirencester goalkeeper Sawyer to equalise.
For the remainder of the half it was Cirencester who were on top and who looked the most likely to score next – the Stones’ midfield rarely able to get the ball forward to create chances for the strikers.
“Wonderkid” Graeme Montgomery, the usual outlet for relief of pressure on the Stones’ defence, was having a quiet game, having to defend more than usual in nullifying the threat of Smith.
One spark from the youngster did produce a snapshot from eight yards out, alas it was straight at the ample midriff of Sawyer.
Armand was much the busier of the two keepers, although Cirencester were not finding the target. Jackson with a quick turn and shot fired just wide and Symons with a header did likewise.
Into the second half and a more closely-fought contest, mainly a battle in the midfield with barely a scare for either goalkeeper, apart from an attempted clearance that hit Papali, deflected past Sawyer and rolled past a post.
At this point it hadn’t been a great game of football, but the entertainment value shot up when Cirencester re-took the lead 20 minutes into the half with a classic far post header by Richards from Regis’s left wing cross.
Almost immediately Matt Gooderick’s deflection of Josias Carbon’s low cross fell fortunately into Sawyer’s arms and the triple substitution that followed soon after seemed to galvanise Wealdstone into playing a more open, attacking game.
It was only three minutes after the substitutions that a headed-on long ball forward saw Papali bundled to the ground and the same player get up and smash the resulting penalty into the corner.
Cirencester seemed to settle for the draw now and were somewhat fortunate to achieve it. As Wealdstone moved forward with purpose Chris O’Leary, Wayne Cort and Montgomery all had openings in the final 15 minutes but all failed to find the target with their efforts.
One point gained for Wealdstone, but it could, perhaps should, have been three.
Wealdstone: Armand, Carbon, Chappell, Swift, S Bamford, G Bamford (Rozboud 70), Christian (Lawrence 70), O’Leary, Gooderick (Cort 70), Papali, Montgomery.