Ciren repel a rare Clevedon attack A Tuesday evening trip into the Cotswolds and a first ever visit to the Corinium Stadium, home of Southern League Div 1 South & West side, Cirencester Town.
The Centurions, currently lying second to Merthyr Town, have been having a good season. Their opponents, Clevedon Town, by contrast have been struggling, especially in recent weeks.
The stadium is on the edge of Cirencester off Kingshill Lane. Note: Do not just enter Kingshill (as it says on the website) into your SatNav. That will take you into town and deep into a housing estate.
The stadium is part of a leisure complex opened in 2002. There is onsite parking that, on the evening I was there, was plentiful. I'm not sure how well it would cope if a big crowd turned up, as there were only 74 spectators on Tuesday night.
The ground itself has an interesting appearance. The car park side of the ground also houses the club house, changing rooms and a small seating area. This is all part of a modern looking building. Opposite the club house is what I would term the main stand, another covered seating area. This structure has the appearance of being much older than the main building, possibly moved from the previous ground?
The only other area of cover is behind one of the goals, to the left of the main stand, where there is a roof over the standing area.
The pitch, considering recent weather, looked in pretty good condition. This may be helped by the slight slope, which could possibly assist drainage to the far end of the stadium.
During the first half I nipped into the clubhouse to sample the local tea and try the chips. The tea, although served from a machine, wasn't too bad at all (see Cuppa League). The chips were superb. Crispy on the outside, light and fluffy inside. A generous portion for a very reasonable £1.20. The only slight let-down was the lack of condiment variety. Other than that, a great effort.
I have one small beef with having to go into the clubhouse to get refreshments though. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to get my tea and pie/chips/chocolate bar from a rickety old shed in the corner of the ground. I find that the old style tea hut is rapidly disappearing. Something that I will continue to lament.
Earlier in the season Clevedon recorded a 3-0 victory over the Centurions but, I am told, there have been a lot of personnel changes at the Seasiders since then, and their season has certainly taken a dip in form.
The game itself was pretty much over after 20 minutes in my view, when Cirencester scored their second of the night. Whilst there was still plenty of time left, I'm afraid that the gulf in class between the two sides looked way too big for even a two-goal deficit to be clawed back.
Sure enough, with the home side going in 3-0 at the break, Cirencester then rattled in another 4 (one of which I missed during a comfort break) to stroll to a 7-0 win.
To be fair to Clevedon, I was very impressed with their team spirit. Even after the game had clearly been lost, they never gave up and were still trying to push forward even at the final whistle. In fact, at half-time, I noticed that the only arguments going on were between some of the home players. A little strange considering that they were 3 up but maybe that was the edge that had given them that 3 goal lead?
It was a shame that the game was so one-sided, but I still enjoyed my first trip to the Corinium. Well worth a visit, if only for the chips (may be a review soon at http://nonleaguechips.tumblr.com/).
Cirencester Town - @CirenTownFC
Clevedon Town - @ClevedonTownFC
The Centurions, currently lying second to Merthyr Town, have been having a good season. Their opponents, Clevedon Town, by contrast have been struggling, especially in recent weeks.
The stadium is on the edge of Cirencester off Kingshill Lane. Note: Do not just enter Kingshill (as it says on the website) into your SatNav. That will take you into town and deep into a housing estate.
The stadium is part of a leisure complex opened in 2002. There is onsite parking that, on the evening I was there, was plentiful. I'm not sure how well it would cope if a big crowd turned up, as there were only 74 spectators on Tuesday night.
The ground itself has an interesting appearance. The car park side of the ground also houses the club house, changing rooms and a small seating area. This is all part of a modern looking building. Opposite the club house is what I would term the main stand, another covered seating area. This structure has the appearance of being much older than the main building, possibly moved from the previous ground?
The only other area of cover is behind one of the goals, to the left of the main stand, where there is a roof over the standing area.
The pitch, considering recent weather, looked in pretty good condition. This may be helped by the slight slope, which could possibly assist drainage to the far end of the stadium.
During the first half I nipped into the clubhouse to sample the local tea and try the chips. The tea, although served from a machine, wasn't too bad at all (see Cuppa League). The chips were superb. Crispy on the outside, light and fluffy inside. A generous portion for a very reasonable £1.20. The only slight let-down was the lack of condiment variety. Other than that, a great effort.
I have one small beef with having to go into the clubhouse to get refreshments though. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to get my tea and pie/chips/chocolate bar from a rickety old shed in the corner of the ground. I find that the old style tea hut is rapidly disappearing. Something that I will continue to lament.
Earlier in the season Clevedon recorded a 3-0 victory over the Centurions but, I am told, there have been a lot of personnel changes at the Seasiders since then, and their season has certainly taken a dip in form.
The game itself was pretty much over after 20 minutes in my view, when Cirencester scored their second of the night. Whilst there was still plenty of time left, I'm afraid that the gulf in class between the two sides looked way too big for even a two-goal deficit to be clawed back.
Sure enough, with the home side going in 3-0 at the break, Cirencester then rattled in another 4 (one of which I missed during a comfort break) to stroll to a 7-0 win.
To be fair to Clevedon, I was very impressed with their team spirit. Even after the game had clearly been lost, they never gave up and were still trying to push forward even at the final whistle. In fact, at half-time, I noticed that the only arguments going on were between some of the home players. A little strange considering that they were 3 up but maybe that was the edge that had given them that 3 goal lead?
It was a shame that the game was so one-sided, but I still enjoyed my first trip to the Corinium. Well worth a visit, if only for the chips (may be a review soon at http://nonleaguechips.tumblr.com/).
Cirencester Town - @CirenTownFC
Clevedon Town - @ClevedonTownFC
Half-time. A view to the main stand.
RSS Feed