Cirencester Town 0 Cheltenham Town 3

CHELTENHAM TOWN dominated their lower-league rivals throughout but needed three second-half goals to finally put away Cirencester Town in the opening pre-season friendly for both sides.

The agenda for each manager seemed somewhat different.

With three of his first-teamers (Mark Pritchett, Ben Wells and Glyn Garner) unavailable, the hosts’ boss Brian Hughes appeared to consider it a fitness-building exercise, opting for a mix of experience and youth during the opening 45 minutes, in which he gave a first start to summer signing Charlie Griffin.

The veteran hit man played alone up front and did not have a sight on goal, but showed a number of deft flicks which may prove valuable when his team-mates become attuned to his playing style.

In contrast, Cheltenham’s Gary Johnson started with arguably his best XI which included 10 of his 11 summer signings.

Full back Kyle Pitts blazed Cirencester’s only half-chance over the bar after robbing defender George McLennan in the 16th minute while, at the other end, former Forest Green strikers Danny Wright had one shot brilliantly saved one-handed by Cirencester’s promising Academy goalkeeper Josh Langley, and missed a tap-in on 24 minutes after a sweeping move from the back.

The Robins set the pace with the alice-banded Harry Pell featuring prominently but they could not unlock a Ciren defence in which Ellis Dunton, back from his season-ending injury in 2014/15, starred.

Ben Brown, once of QPR and more recently Oxford City, also looked comfortable in the Cirencester back four.

Johnson changed his entire XI for the second half, selecting the survivors of last season’s cull, while Hughes swapped all bar Jordan Ricketts and Ian Herring.

Cheltenham immediately started to pull apart the Cirencester defence and it was the lively Zack Kotwica who broke the deadlock with a neat finish in the 52nd minute.

Ricketts and Herring were withdrawn after 70, replaced by Academy player Max Lloyd and Dunton, who was re-introduced presumably to combat the threat of Kotwica down the left.

Despite forcing Ciren’s second-half keeper Sam Hassan into a number of saves, Cheltenham did not extend their lead until 79 minutes when Joe Hanks hit a fierce drive in off the bar from a corner and in the 90th minute, transfer-listed Lee Vaughan jinked past two challenges before crashing a firm shot past Hassan in the 90th minute.

Cirencester Town (first half): Joss Langley, Kyle Pitts, Ellis Dunton, Ben Brown, Ian Herring, Leigh Henry (capt), Jordan Ricketts, James Mortimer-Jones, Charlie Griffin, Josh Parsons, Ollie Knight.

(second half): Sam Hassan, Ian Herring (Dunton, 70), Tyrone Lee, Callum Henry, Robbie James, Gethin Jones, Ricketts (Lloyd, 70), Brad Hooper, Ross Langworthy, Callum Parsons, Aidan Bennett.

Cheltenham Town (first half): Phillips; Barthram, Downes, Parslow, McLennan; Storer, Munns, Pell; Waters, Wright, Morgan-Smith.

(second half): Kitscha; Vaughan, Deaman, Rowe, Bowen; Page, Hanks, Sterling-James; Kotwica, Williams, Dale.

Attendance: 393.