Old Elizabethans 5 v 10 Cirencester #Gloucester1

Cirencester starts season with a win away

Cirencester travelled to South Gloucestershire to the home of the Old Elizabethans  for their first league game of their Gloucester One campaign, after an encouraging pre-season with two wins.

Cirencester were led out for the first time by new captain and fly half Oli Newman. It was Newman who set the tempo in the early stages, being proved with front foot ball from his eager forwards who looked sharp early on.

The Cirencester forwards were totally dominant in the scrums pushing the Bristolians at will off their own feet. With so much ball in was inevitable that the away side would score, and it was the exciting Cirencester full back Isoa Raione who got them off the mark with a fine try out wide.

Ciren  were dominating possession but often squandering the ball by forcing the last pass, which became a frustration for the Cotswold men. But it was Old E who got turned over and through some neat handling by Cirencester Newman, Will Armitage, Ben Ramsey, it was full back Raione who crossed once again to complete his brace.

From the kick off, which Ciren failed to deal with successfully, it was the home side who had the put in from a resulting lineout and drove the Ciren forwards back over their own line to score their first try, half time score 5-10.

The second half was often played at a frantic pace by both sides, with both sides lacking the killer cohesion necessary to take control of the game. As the minutes ticked by very few clear-cut scoring opportunities were created, with the scorer not being troubled any further in the second half. There were some notable performances with Cirencester’s front row of Darren Stephens, Scott Cannon, and Sean Beech, who completely dominated their opposite number; number eight Archie Doyle also put in a typical swashbuckling performance. Ciren will be delighted with their opening league win, especially away from the Whiteway. The players and coaches will know that there is still room for improvement from this emerging young side.

Cirencester 2XV played Fairford in a friendly, yet hard-fought game; the visitors pull away in the latter stages with some breakaway tries recording a 5-31 victory.