DMW May 6, 2000

HIGH, wide and handsome, time after time. It says a lot about a team's ghastly lack of accuracy that the busiest person in the ground is the young lad retrieving balls from beyond the trees.

Looking back across a mediocre league campaign, Rovers have rarely had a better chance to wrap a game up by half time.

After surviving the inevitable early burst of enthusiasm from a youthful Cirencester side, Steve Daley's men took charge of Saturday's game at sun-soaked Smithsfield.

The shots, headers, crosses came in thick and fast -- but the Greens couldn't convert any of them, leaving the bench and an excellent turnout of visiting supporters throwing their hands up in despair. Sloppy defending offered further openings, but somehow the Gloucestershire club were let off the hook.

As the half hour mark approached, Peter Sutton pounced on one such slip by Stuart Hodson and instantly sprang forward. He picked out his striking partner Benbow, who fired over with only home 'keeper Kevin Sawyer to beat.

With time on their side, Rovers kept up the pressure. Sutton was denied by Sawyer on two occasions then blazed over from easy range before the young goalkeeper's finest moment six minutes before the break.

Mark Bowater's deft chip out of defence caught the Town defence napping and presented Benbow with another golden chance. However, Sawyer blocked his shot then recovered well to beat out Sutton's rebound.

Little happened after the break until the introduction of Cirencester's 41-year-old assistant manager Mark Boyland with 30 minutes remaining. He quickly made his presence felt with an overhead kick which drifted just wide then played a vital role in the only goal of the game on 72 minutes.

With Jamie Turpin nursing an injury in his opponents' half, Rovers were left desperately short of cover when Town broke through the middle. The ball was played out to Boyland on the left wing, who crossed for fellow sub Steve Richardson to plant a downward header beyond the stranded Mark Jones at the back post.

What a travesty. It certainly knocked the stuffing out of the Greens, who appeared dazed and confused in the final minutes and never looked like scoring. Blighted by inconsistency all season, they finish sixth from bottom.

Rovers: Jones, Townsend, Brown, Davies, Bowater, Turpin, Humphreys (sub Bannister 72), Benbow, Sutton, Daley, Biddle. Subs (unused): Pincher, Gabbidon.

Attendance: 178. Rovers MoM: Tom Davies.