Southern Premier - Team Bath vs Cirencester Town

Pitch in good nick after the heavy rain over the weekend so this was the time to get back on track. As it turned out, we really shouldn't have bothered. This was truly disappointing.

Team Bath were much better organised and fitter than a poor Cirencester team who, in spite of taking a first half lead, never got control of the match.

Southern League Premier Monday 01 January 2007 Team Bath 4 Cirencester Town 1 Team Bath: Darren Chitty, Matt Lock Townley 90, Andy Reilly, Steve Abbott Dan Dillon 88, Adam Green, Marc Canham, Neil Saunders (c), Matt Williams Matt Cooper 74, Sean Canham, George Friend other subs: Kes Metitiri, Simon Cooper Cirencester: Kevin Sawyer Alex Hards 80, Lee Smith Y 53, Ollie Holder, Steve Leigh, Matt Jones, Lee Molyneux, Marc Richards, Michael Jackson (c), Phil Hall 76, Steve Cowe, Scott Griffin Mike Symons 70, Matt Smith other subs: Rene Regis, Nathan Haisley ref: Mr C Powell, Poole Was always on top of the game, maybe a bit erratic with some of his decisions, but totally let down by an appalling lino who 5 times got offside decisions completely wrong att: Declared at 87 but after counting very thoroughly midway through both halves I could not find more than 63 heads in the crowd. Of those people visible, a known 36 were Ciren fans or parents .... I wonder where TB found the additional 24 - or did they count their squad into the total?

Mr Hards, with Rene Regis and Nathan Haisley stuck in traffic on the M4, had to field an unbalanced team.

With Lee Molyneux having to play at wing back and Lee Smith again out of position on the left, Steve Cowe was put up front with Scott Griffin and we sacrificed a key component of our midfield.

Mr Roddy had Sean Canham back and stuck him up front, putting Steve Abbott into a central midfield role and fielding a team with 9 players over 6 feet tall. Clearly, the intention of these athletic giants was to dominate midfield possession and see what happened from there after they had worn us down.

The Students imposed themselves physically from the off. They did not really have to work too hard to dominate the match, either. While we did manage to keep them at the edge of our penalty area our passing out from defence was under pressure as their forwards and midfield were impressively quick to close down all the angles. They knew what they were doing and very clearly we did not have the nouse to counter them.

Long balls out to three huge defenders, who won every single ball sent at them, was optimistic if we expected Cowey and Griff to give us enough time on the ball to be able to support further forward. Fair play to the pair of them - they scampered willingly and Griff got enough control to be able to send Smudger in against Matt Lock down our left.

But it was going to be one of those days. Smudge invariably won the first tussle but was then gobbled up by the covering player - TB knew what Smudger could do and set out to snuff him from the off - and as soon as we lost possession (inevitable, really) the ball went to a TB player in space.

TB play to a rigid 4 4 2 formula so, although they had little difficulty in keeping midfield possession, they could not find the invention to work their way through a defiant Ciren defence in which Steve Leigh and Matt Jones were solid. So, the attacking ploy was a long ball curled in and a hope for a second ball knockdown.

Ollie Holder was admirably calm because the fizz in the mix for TB is Sean Canham. Quick and tricky, he himself sometimes does not know what will happen when he makes his little darts and checks. But he keeps doing it and that wears teams down. Ollie hung in there and within 10 minutes Ciren were starting to get a bit of control.

Matt Smith was very influential in not only intercepting midfield loose balls but more importantly putting his foot on the ball, looking up and trying to make a decent pass. Twice he sent Griff past Matt Taylor into space - and twice the lino flagged. It looked daft to me because I thought, each time, Griff had checked out for the run as Mini-Smudger got the ball and had then gone into the gap after the pass had been drilled in.

Match officials should understand the game enough to realise that when a team knows it can't get through one way they will try another. Our lot, even though they had been under a lot of pressure on their space, were working hard to free Jacko and Ricco so they could work a nippy forward free.

But when the dollop in black can't see that the pass is made before the red and black shirt appears in his view behind the last defender then it cannot be offside. That kind of pass is actually good football. And therefore very frustrating when the end product of hard work is negated by an incompetent official.

It wasn't happening at the other end - most TB attacks ended with a diagonal ball driven in, with the intention of creating a knockdown and the runner coming through on the second ball. The first chance came not from that but from a corner.

Centre back Matt Taylor met it on 16 minutes, making himself big and brushing Ricco aside to nod across to Williams. His lob was accurate, going in under the bar with Kev drawn to the near side to cover the risk of a direct header from Taylor. But Matt Smith was on the line to head clear and Moley, who was rampaging very effectively down the right in his unaccustomed position, brought the ball down and passed out cleanly.

It was cool defending and the TB coaches were getting frothy because it was looking as if the TB lads were a bit non-plussed by the Ciren response to their direct attacking attempts. Steve Abbot tried Plan B - give The Griff some welly when he went up to try and control the out-pass.

Three times between 17 and 19 minutes he led with his elbow and got away with it. And each time, as the ball dropped loose Neil Saunders was on to it in a flash and leaving Ricco off balance and vainly flailing as he tried to get back goal side. It put pressure back on the Ciren defence at once.

Gradually Cirencester found a pattern, with Molyneux and Ollie Holder bringing the ball down and playing accurate passes out of defence. Past the 30 minute mark TB were defending deep in their own half. A series of attacks and corners kept them pinned back, with Matt Smith outstanding in his speed in closing down and regaining possession and Cowey and Jacko eager receivers of his passes to them in space.

Moley did well to chase down a half cleared corner and fire in a return cross, with Ricco giving it the big jump to connect and forcing Chitty to flail the ball behind. Three more corners in quick succession followed, with Chitty again needing to dive to keep out Griff's well judged volley. The momentum had swung.

However, it was George Friend who had the first clear chance on 42 minutes, collecting a nod back by Sean Canham from a long crossfield pass by Marc Canham after again Smudger had been dispossessed. As he set himself, with Kevin Sawyer slipping in the mud, Matt Jones threw himself in to block. It should have been a shot on target but the attacker had been too deliberate - escape for Ciren.

Again, good defensive work by Holder and Molyneux let Ciren work the ball out and again Abbott used his elbow as Griff went up to collect the placed pass on to his chest. Free kick on the half way line was sent to the far angle of the box by Steve Leigh.

Matt Smith was first to an under pressure header out from Matt Taylor and collected it in midfield all on his own. Spotting Darren Chitty off his line, he fired a sumptuous volley from 25 yards that was placed over the keeper's desperate flail up to his right and billowed the net on 44 minutes.

That should have been the motivation to hold the advantage and work to nick a clincher for Ciren. Instead, within a minute of the restart you could see the TB response. Abbott was now much further forward close behind Williams and Sean Canham and looking to pick up the knockdowns and drive on. Friend was tucking in, Saunders was much more concentrating just on keeping and passing on the ball within the centre circle and Sean Canham was trying to get away from Holder and go against Jonah instead.

Within a couple of minutes Williams was on to a flick from Abbott, got beyond the line and fired in a left footer that Kev flicked over the bar. Safe catch off the corner by Kev but you could see that TB were going to up the pace just a tad on the 3 main defenders and make them work harder.

While Ciren attacked, and won more corners, it was always at full stretch and the clearances were being routinely worked out to Reilly on the TB left. Smudger dived in late to try and cut one off and was yellowed.

On 54 minutes, Andy Reilly was neatly worked free by Friend and Marc Canham and once clear he floated in a routine long pass from the left flank, Matt Williams made himself first to the ball and from the deflection Neil Saunders was racing beyond the defence to equalise with a clear shot from the left from 12 yards.

We had two defenders just standing ball watching and with no inkling that an old fashioned knock in and knock on would split them. It did. Easy. And you saw the team deflate. It was a sucker blow and TB knew they had us. Simple as that.

Worse was to follow. A vague throw in from the left to nobody in particular was allowed to bounce by Steve Leigh. I've no idea why he let it come in and then bounce over his head. Maybe he got a shout? Maybe he misjudged it?

Matt Jones was behind him, close onto Williams and moved to block him from turning on the ball. Instead, it bounced off the forward's chest. Sean Canham was already on the move and gambling on getting something as the throw in had been sent in. He was already well away from Ollie to collect the miscue and instantly fired beyond Sawyer from 3 yards for 2 - 1 on 59 minutes. That was a classic forward gamble and it paid off, big time. Good shot though.

Now completely in control 30 yards from the Ciren goal Team Bath time after time tried to work one-twos beyond the Ciren defence. They either failed with Molyneux and the increasingly impressive Ollie Holder calmly cutting out the passes or the ball being overhit to go through to Sawyer. Maybe we could get back to 2 - 2. Or not?

It was not through lack of effort but it was increasingly being funnelled into blind alleys. Every time Ciren got the ball in midfield the angles were shut off. But Cowey was working his socks off, with Jacko, to open things up. Three times he put his foot on the ball, made space, looked and then sent Griff away. Each time it split the defence.

And each time the plonker with the flag completely bolloxed his decision. It was poor, very poor. The last one was a farce. The ref saw the pass, Griff had got away but had been caught by the superb Matt Lock and forced wide. Plonker still with his flag up. Play ends with a Ciren throw in - ref now 50 yards away on the left of the field. Then blows and signals offside. He had no idea.

Cue more than a bit of abuse from the Ciren fans. And some sarcasm from the Ciren bench. Blow me, a minute later lino gets all huffy, sticks his flag up in the air and waggles it and ref comes for a chat. Obviously the mite had been upset by the guidance he had been receiving on what is and what is not offside from, amongst others, the by now thoroughly awakened Muppetts. And me, I must confess. Poor diddums.

Back to the game. Ricco, bless, works his buns off but was being overrun and had been scrambling most of the match to recover himself as the ball kept being whisked away from him. But we were pressing - but not getting into their box.

They clear one of Smudgers forays, again frustratingly stopped by the second' defender, long and into our left side at the back. We work it free with 3 successive line throws until, crucially, Abbott easily wins the third attempt and nods inside to Saunders.

Who is in position for exactly that move. First time sidefoot forward in the air to Williams. Jonah beats him.

But Saunders is brushing past Ricco, gets first to the loose ball 30 yards out and slots his pass into the box.

Great angle on the pass - it is outside Steve Leigh and onto the side of Williams. Except it is way overcooked. And Williams has jinked the other way. He isn't going to get it, ever.

It is a collect for Kev and he is coming out. But Steve Leigh does not hear him or decides he is going to hook his leg around the ball, stop it, stand up and stroke it clear. Hooks it fine. Stops it. Doesn't stand up in time.

And there is the ball, neatly stopped, and 12 yards from our goal. Kev has to keep coming but as he arrives so does Steve Abbott (remember, he won that header 10 seconds before) and he powers through, the ball is loose and he pops in number three on 64 minutes. Dreadful. And worse, Kev is down. Gets up, eventually, but he has had a knock.

Again we try and come back. And do make some moves. But frankly, they are laboured. We are not making the final ball count and our passes are poor. And TB are on their pomp. They have this won. And in any case, the lino is there to help them out. Again, he makes 3 absolutely crass errors - twice catching' Griff and once Cowey. Ref decides he has to have a word with somebody when once again diddums wants the ref to protect him from the nasty speccies.

Griff is replaced by Mikey. I think that is a bit harsh - Griff stayed home last night, has worked all day to get in amongst their defence and actually has needed Mikey to get a bit of oomph on their big defenders. But he is off so Griff can't benefit from Mikey's immediate impact of controlling the ball and sending some attacking passes into their third of the field. A rarity today.

And a few minutes later Jacko is replaced by Phil Hall which at last lets Cowey drop to where he can at least pass the ball instead of chase lumps off a huge defender. On 77 minutes their sub Cooper, replacing Williams, has a poke from distance after TB finally realise Kev is hampered by his shoulder. Kev tips it round the post and is then less than chuffed when Cooper stamps on his feet at the following corner. Dirty get.

Off comes Kev, on comes Alex and immediately makes a good save as Friend makes a dribble and Cooper lashes in a shot as the ball breaks loose off Ollie's tackle. But it is looking more and more as if this is Goodnight Irene as TB gobble up every loose ball 30 yards from our goal and fire in more passes for onetwos.

It is good stuff and the defence is having to work hard to keep them out. Surely not the humiliation of a conceding a fourth?

Oh yes. Ollie twice makes a hash of getting it clear up our right, much to his dismay, and when Friend again has time to control the ball and feed Reilly in space behind him the cross is poor - aimed for the middle, it is short. Bounces off Steve Leigh and is running out for a corner.

Except Sean Canham is again eagerly sniffing, runs and collects. And going away from goal he backheels into the space in front of goal. Where Matt Cooper is all on his own 10 yards out and bangs it in for number four. 93 minutes gone and mercifully the ref blows. Oh dear. Not good. So, what happened for us to get hammered like that?

They were fitter, they played a system we could not shift. We passed badly, conceded possession too easily, hardly ever won a midfield tussle. And were far too often pressured into banging it out of defence which gave Griff and Cowey (and later Mikey) not much to work on when their defenders were much more physically dominant than we were.

Something has to change. We should be match fit but clearly are not. I'll exclude Matt Smith, Moley, Ollie, Griff and Cowey from that criticism but today the rest of our lads were never in a position to impose themselves on the ball and use it well.

Easy to be wise after the event but we also did ourselves no favours by having 2 of our first picks arriving late. Maybe Nathan and Rene would have damped down their midfield? We'll never know now.

Maybe if Smudger had thereby been allowed to go up the right, and if Mikey had been on from the off, and Cowey had been passing it out in tandem with Mini-Smudger from midfield we could have been slotting properly paced passes behind their even today easily panicked defence. Would we have made the pressure stick in their third of the pitch? Dunno. We never got the chance to find out.

And while TB play it by numbers they do the basics very well - time after time they were moving to be available, controlled the ball and moved it to another player who was available. And they totally dominated the area 30 - 40 yards from our goal while we never dominated that bit of the pitch in their third.

Simple as that. They overpowered us and we could do nowt about it. And being taken to bits by simple onetwos is not good. Those repetition 20 yard shuttle run sprints are the basics of all good football teams. You have to do that otherwise teams overrun you.

The Muppetts and Robert left straight after the match so did not vote but only 4 players were mentioned in the away fans MoM poll - Moley, Ollie, Kev and Matt Smith. And it was Matt Smith who got the overwhelming vote from the bitterly disappointed speccies who stayed in the clubhouse. I don't like doing match reports when we play like that. Ian S.