Away to Cirencester

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The win yesterday was excellent and I was delighted to return with maximum points that have taken us back to the top of the league.

I benefited from my visit to see Cirencester in the week at Hemel Hempstead, and as such changed the formation of the team to add a bit more of a foothold in midfield as I felt that was an area that we needed to improve on if we were going to get anything out of the game.

Our wide players had good games for us and provided great support for Craig Hammond, who again was outstanding.

Before Craig got his first goal, I felt it was pretty even during the first 20 minutes. Cirencester caused us some problems with a couple of efforts they had, but overall I felt we kept possession well, and I was pleased as we tried to pass the ball and looked a lot more composed than we have in recent weeks.

After Craig scored, we let Cirencester back in it, and with their goal we have had at least two opportunities to clear it. In the end it has fallen to their player who has struck it and it has gone under the foot of a player, and in turn has wrong-footed Zac Barrett. So there was an element of good fortune in that respect, but we should have dealt with the situation before the shot came in.

After the break, I felt we still had the upper hand, and I made a few changes such as bringing on Neil Midgley for Craig Hughes, and that still allowed us to keep the same formation.

To be fair to Cirencester, they kept coming at us and last season it would have been an odds-on draw, but we have a bit more quality this season, and the move that lead up to the winner was fantastic from our point of view. It involved 10 - 15 passes and Hammond has played a nice one-two with Midgley before slotting it home with a good finish.

To come home with the points in the bag is great and to be back top is a nice feeling. To be honest, although the lads haven�t been at their best in recent weeks, they�ve still managed to work hard as a unit and grind out results. We�ve now got to continue with the same level of performance as yesterday and see if we can kick on and maintain our lead.

In terms of personnel, I thought Craig Hughes did well for us on his debut. I�ve tried to sign him a couple of times before, the most recent when he left Thurrock to join Sudbury at the beginning of last season. Elsewhere, I thought Tony Burke had a better game, as did Joey Abbs who did really well for us again. I�ve said before that he is very versatile, and regardless of where we ask him to play be it midfield, left back or like yesterday at right back, he always produces the goods for us.

We have lost Robbie Nightingale through injury. He picked up an ankle knock in the warm-up. Along with Robbie, John Kennedy is still struggling with the injury he collected last Saturday, and both are doubtful for next Saturday. On the plus front, Liam Nicell is edging back to fitness and could feature in the game at Barton Rovers on Tuesday.

With the Barton game, I�m looking to rest a few regulars in the sense that they will be on the bench and I�ve added both Ben Sawyer and Tom Sapsford from the Reserves to the squad.

Next Saturday at Daventry will be hard. They are a decent side, who have quite a lot of height in their side. I will be looking for the team to get the ball down and play their passing game to counter what they have. We are definitely not underestimating them though, as we know it will be tricky, so we will have to be at our best if we are to progress through to the next round.