Hall rues two points dropped as Eagles are held by Cirencester
Southern Premier League
Bedford Town 1 Cirencester Town 1
BEDFORD manager Ady Hall felt it was a case of two points dropped as his side could only draw with Cirencester Town at the Eyrie on Saturday, writes Roger Worsley.
Back from the enforced lay-off due to the cold weather, Hall made one change to the starting line-up that has been picking itself in recent games as James Hatch’s hamstring injury saw him on the bench, with Jermaine Ivy starting.
Early pressure from Eagles came to nothing after Drew Roberts was forced to shoot high when put through by Gareth Price, before Cirencester keeper Mike Hedges punched Aaron James’ free kick only as far as Ollie Thorne, who fired over.
The visitors nearly took the lead midway through the half when Andy Gunn directed a corner goalwards, beating Ian Brown, but James hooked it away from the line.
Just before the break, Roberts squared the ball across the area to Price, but Hedges beat away his effort.
Ivy then jinked past four defenders players, but couldn’t get any purchase on his close-range shot and the ball was cleared off the line, while Roberts’ curler was palmed away by Hedges.
Bedford’s top scorer was having no luck in front of goal and just three minutes into the second half, he took Price’s pass to slot past Hedges, but saw his shot hit the post and bounce to safety.
Cirencester then had a 10-minute period of sustained pressure that eventually led to the opening goal.
On 50 minutes, Jamie Reid’s cross was belted goalwards by Lee Smith, testing Brown, who deflected the ball over the bar.
Six minutes later and with the division’s bottom side pressing, Cirencester took the lead when Brown was unable to hold on to a fizzing shot from Jon Else and Reid ran in to chip the rebound over the recumbent keeper from close range.
Buoyed by this, the visitors nearly increased the lead a few minutes later when Smith’s shot on the turn flew over Brown but rebounded off the bar. The defence only half cleared the ball and Reid raced in to test Brown again with a low shot.
The Eagles started to reassert their dominance in the search for the equaliser and with 20 minutes remaining Price’s cross deep into the Cirencester area was missed by everyone, while Max York’s corner found James, but Hedges saved his effort.
With time running out, Hatch was introduced for the last 12 minutes and soon had the equaliser after a lovely move.
Price fed Roberts down the right with a well weighted pass and the striker reached the by-line before crossing to the far post where Thorne headed back for Hatch to nod home.
Three minutes later, Gavin Hoyte had the ball in the net but the referee had already blown for a supposed foul on Hedges.
A similar move to the one that produced the equaliser was re-enacted in the 86th minute, but this time Roberts couldn’t keep his header on target.
With the full time whistle fast approaching, York’s corner on the right pinpointed Roberts on the edge of the area, but he was once again denied by Hedges as Eagles had to make do with a point.
Eagles: Ian Brown, Max York, Aaron James, Jon Darby, Gavin Hoyte (C), Ollie Thorne, Gareth Price, Josh Beech, Jermaine Ivy (James Hatch 78), Drew Roberts, Tom Damon (Callum Lewis 64).
Subs not used: Jamie Cole, Seb Simpson, Michael Kavanagh.
Star Man: Aaron James.
Attendance: 251.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 29 May 2012
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