Cirencester Town 2 Marine 4

Match Report from Pete Crockett

A THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE EVENING

As a supporter going to watch a preseason friendly can be a bit of a magical mystery tour. You are never quite sure whether you are going to witness something akin to a training session or an encounter that has sufficient quality and intensity to be a decent and enjoyable watch.

This match at Cirencester Town’s Corinium Stadium was very much the second. Both teams deserve a great deal of credit for the good football they played and the effort they put in. Marine started the match on the front foot. In the 7th minute a Sal Abubakar pass sent Jonny Efedje clear. He surged towards the goal line leaving his marker in his wake. He fizzed a menacing low cross across the face of goal, but it was just out of reach of the advancing Marine strikers.

A minute later Marine took the lead. An excellent diagonal ball from Josh Grant saw Sal Abubakar maraud with pace into the Centurions penalty area. He was bundled to the ground and a penalty kick awarded. JAMES HARDING converted the spot kick with the power of his strike seeing the ball hit the back of the net despite the keeper getting a hand to his effort.

Dan Warre consistently stretched the Cirencester defence
Photo’s from Alex White photography

After the goal the game became a more end to end affair. One of the hallmarks of Marine’s performance throughout the match was the intensity of their pressing when out of possession. On the half hour mark Marine doubled their lead. A well measured pass from T’awana Changa saw Dan Warre advance into the right-hand side of the home team penalty area.

Warre looked up and drilled an inch perfect low cross to the back post that was tapped home by JAMES HARDING. It was in many ways a simple goal but as the Dutch striker Johann Cruyff once said “playing football is very simple but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.” With 33 minutes passed a Jamie Edge back post corner saw Nick Rhodes rise above the surrounding defenders but his header cleared the crossbar.

As the first half entered its final five minutes Cirencester Town fashioned their best opening. Some slick passing saw Harlie Price get ahead of the Marine defence. However, his advance on goal was thwarted by an excellent sliding tackle by T’awana Changa.

James Harding has just the second of his three goals
Photo’s from Alex White photography

The commencement of the second half saw Marine make five changes. However, it was the visitors who fashioned the first opening of the half when a Marine triallist’s probing pass sent Dawid Regula clear. He dipped a shoulder to pass a defender, but his shot went just wide of the far post.

In the 48th minute a loose defensive header by Josh Grant was intercepted by the home teams HARLIE PRICE who adroitly lobbed the keeper to reduce the deficit to one goal. However, this spurred Marine to up their game and three minutes later Marine made the score 3-1. A diagonal ball saw Joe Selman advance down the right flank to the goal line. He zipped a menacing ball across goal and JAMES HARDING netted for his hat-trick.

With 53 minutes elapsed Marine scored their fourth. Some slick Marine passing sent DAWID REGULA clear and he made no mistake slotting the ball past the keeper with a clinically composed finish.

Dawid Regula scored his first goal for Marine at Cirencester Town
Photo’s from Alex White photography

At the mid point of the second half Marine could have scored a fifth goal. Some slick Marine passing sent Dawid Regula clear on the right. His cross found Sid Gbla at the back post whose effort went wide of goal. With twenty minutes remaining some hesitant Marine defending saw the ball break to Harlie Price in the box. As he looked to create a shooting angle he was bought down by the keeper and a penalty kick was thus correctly awarded. HARLIE PRICE converted the spot kick for the host’s second.

For the final twenty minutes Marine manager Bobby Wilkinson voluntarily reduced his team to ten men. He will have been pleased with the discipline his players showed in seeing the game out. They effectively limited the home team to one meaningful effort – a twenty-five-yard shot from Christian Oliver that went just wide of Nick Harvey’s right upright.

Cirencester Town deserve credit for striving to play good passing football throughout the match. Several of their players impressed including Will Davidson who put in a solid defensive shift – particularly in the first half when his team were under pressure. In midfield Kelsea Mubari showed some good touches. Whilst up front Harlie Price led the line with brio scoring a brace in the process. On a personal note I enjoyed watching them and wish them well for the 2025/26 season.

Josh Grant had a good game at the heart of the defence
Photo’s from Alex White photography

Post-match Marine manager Bobby Wilkinson expressed delight with a number of aspects of his team’s performance. He was pleased with the battling tenacity and fitness levels his team displayed. The manager was also impressed with his team’s slick passing and movement off the ball.

He felt the Marine goals in open play were well worked with incisive passing and good finishes. He praised the efforts of the youngsters he bought on in the second half who showed both skill and the mettle to dig deep – this was particularly clear when the team dropped down to ten players.

It strikes me that 28-days into the preseason some plaudits are justified. My first plaudit goes to Bobby Wilkinson and his management team. Faced with a total team rebuild they have systematically recruited a strong squad; developed within the team a fluent and tenacious playing style; and moved to restore smiles to the faces of supporters.

Cheldon Valere challenges Cirencester’s goalscorer Harlie Price
Photo’s from Alex White photography

As a management team they totally get the importance of a positive ethos – the friendly word to a player’s family, the thank you to a volunteer, or taking the time to make supporters feel valued makes a massive difference to the club’s spirit.

The second plaudit is to the players. They have clearly trained hard and have shown a determination to give their all to the cause. The fact that they have, in a mere 28 days, started to look such a strong footballing unit is admirable. In his post match comments Bobby Wilkinson stated - “what makes me proudest is they’re all playing with a smile on their face and wearing the badge with pride.“

Come on Marine!

Cirencester Star Man: Harlie Price
Marine Star Man: James Harding
Attendance: 190 est

Cirencester starting XI: 1 Nick Harvey (GK), 2 Sam Turl (Sub: 82’), 3 Piotr Petrynski, 4 Josh Grant (Sub: 55’), 5 Nick Rhodes (Sub: 46’), 6 Tawana Changa (Sub: 46’), 7 Jonny Efedje (Sub: 55’) 8 Jamie Edge (Sub:- 46’), 9 Dan Warre (Sub: 46’), 10 James Harding (Sub: 55’), 11 Sal Abubakar (Sub: 46’)
Cirencester subs: 12 Joe Selman (Sub: 46’), 14 Josh Blyth (Sub: 46’), 15 Dayo Sonoiki (Sub: 46’), 16 Sid Gbla (Sub: 55’), 17 Trialist (Sub: 46’), 18 Dawid Regula (Sub: 46’) 19 Olly Case (Sub: 55’), 20 Cheldon Valere (Sub: 55’),

Cirencester starting XI: 1 Josh Sawyer (GK), 2 Fraser Bell (Sub: 88’), , 3 Jordan Morris (Sub: 80’), 4 Will Davidson (Sub: 88’), 12 Kyle Pitts, 6 Jack Worrell (Sub: 65’), 7 Jayden Stratford (Sub: 15’) 8 Jonty Welch (Sub:- 80’), 9 Harlie Price (Sub: 80’), 10 Jack Freeman (Sub: 65’), 11 Kelsea Mubari
Cirencester subs: 14 Ethan Rose (Sub: 80’), 16 Luka Kennedy (Sub: 15’), 17 Christian Oliver (Sub: 65’), 18 Harry Titchener (Sub: 88’) 19 Ollie Pitt (Sub: 65’), 20 Charlie Sutton (Sub: 88’), 21 Harrison Reeves (Sub: 80’), 22 Sam Styles (Sub: 80’),

Match Officials

Referee: Ian Butler
Assistant Referees: Gary Collier, Matt Dickinson