CIRENCESTER worked their proverbial socks off in a narrow 12 -10 defeat to Gloucester Old Boys.

Ciren started brightly with veteran scrum-half Andrew Halsey making breaks from in and around the break down area. The line breaks enabled the Cotswold club to gain territory in the game.

Throughout the game penalties spoilt the follow of the game. From a Ciren infringement Old Boys kicked to the corner and from a 5m line-out drive, scoring opening try 7-0. With the home side having the upper hand in the scrums the ball Ciren were winning was often scrappy which did not help the backs penetrate the home side defensive line. But with Old boys continuing to give penalties away, which again resulted in a 5m line-out drive, this time for Ciren, which was penalised, but with quick thinking Ciren’s powerful number eight Tom Dykes took a quick tap penalty and crashed over to score 7-5.

It was Old Boys who went further ahead with another driven try, after Ciren failed to deal with a long kick down the slope into the corner, with conversion missed the half-time score was 12-5.

With Ciren starting the second-half playing down the slope, and with increased intensity they were optimistic that a positive result could be gained, that optimism was further increased when Ciren’s fly-half jinked his way through the home side defence to score a wonderful individual try, making the score 12-10.

The score ignited a fight between the two sides that resulted in Old Boys full-back shown a red card, and Ciren’s centre Zeb Waite a yellow. With players tiring, the game became frantic. With 14 players on the pitch this galvanised the home side who set up camp on Ciren’s line.

A line they did not breach as the defending was heroic and brave from all the men in red and black. Ciren did have chances on the counter to score but with their decision making and handling errors not enabling a crucial score to happen.

As the game entered the final stages, Zeb Waite was shown another yellow, which resulted in red. As the final whistle went the joy and disappointment was on show in equal measure by the players on the field. The Whiteway men worked their socks off, with second-row Joe Chambers matching his partner with his work rate, Gareth Owen the skipper for the day, marshalled his troops well. Ciren will be disappointed with the result, but they can also be proud of the heart and endeavour shown, especially in the second half.

Cirencester 2nd team entertained Spartans 2nd losing 14-36 conceding early tries but rallying in the second half which they won. The game was a bruising encountered, with both sides giving it their all.