Cirencester Town 2 Harlow Town 0 - Southern League, Division One Central
Cirencester is market town in
Gloucestershire, situated 80 miles west of London. It lies on the River Churn,
a tributary to the River Thames and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. The
Roman name for the town was Corinium and the town’s Corinium Museum has an
extensive Roman collection. Before 1974 the town was administered by
Cirencester Urban District Council. Following the reorganisation of local
government, the urban district council was replaced by the new Cotswold
District Council. Cirencester Watermoor Railway Station was closed to
passengers in 1961. The nearest station is now at Kemble, 3.7 miles away. The
rock drummer Cozy Powell was born in Cirencester.
The football club was established in 1989. Progression
via the Cheltenham League, and Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, saw the
club become founder members of the Gloucestershire County League in 1968.
Further progression via the Hellenic League enabled the club to be promoted to
the Southern League in 1996. The Gloucestershire Senior Cup was won in 1996 and
this feat was repeated in 2016.
Due to ongoing issues at Harlow Town FC, the clubs were able to reverse the fixtures enabling
the match to go ahead. Cirencester Town will visit Harlow in the return match
next year. An added bonus for this Pieman, was that I was invited to travel in
the club secretary’s car and this was almost first time that I had travelled in an
official vehicle - an exception being when I bunked on the Harlow coach at Hampton
Court for five minutes on the way to Molesey in 1990. The coach was collecting
players that worked in London, including the legendary Richard Head.
The club secretary’s chauffer
likes to support local hostelries when travelling. On this occasion he diverted
to The Greyhound at Siddington, just a couple of miles from our destination. At
this establishment, I enjoyed a rather good pint of Wadworth 6X (4.1%). This
classic crafted amber ale is malty and fruity on the nose with a balancing hop character.
Suitably refreshed we then made our way to the Corinium Stadium.
To facilitate the change of venue
at short notice meant that the home club’s Development side brought forward their
Hellenic League fixture against Kidlington Reserves to midday. This match was
reaching its conclusion as I toured the ground taking photographs. This rather
smart venue has covered seating on both sides. A larger stand straddles the
half way line on one side, whereas a smaller smart stand forms part of the
extensive clubhouse building. There is also covered standing area behind one of
the goals. Other facilities include the clubhouse bar, a club shop and the
snack bar, where I purchased and soon demolished ‘The Centurian’ – a double burger, lettuce, cheese, onion all topped with
a hash brown!
In blustery conditions both teams
cancelled each other out for most of the contest. However, a red card for
Harlow Town’s Josh Steele with over an hour left to play meant it was going to
be a testing time for the visitors for the remainder of the match. The referee
was keen to remind us that he was in charge and the higher quota of yellow cards
issued to both sides did not reflect the nature of this match, which was played in good spirit.
The home side eventually made the
numbers count with a couple of goals in the second period, but for the majority
of the second half the visitors dug in and can be proud of their resolve in
difficult circumstances. Once again, we were made to feel welcome by a club in
this neck of the woods – very friendly folk. This Pieman won the matchday
raffle which included a large bottle of fizz (I almost dropped it, much to the
amusement of club officials!). With a national rail strike taking place I am
most grateful to those Harveys for getting me to and from Gloucestershire.
No comments:
Post a Comment