Evesham United 0 Cirencester Town 0 (From Worcester News)

Evesham United 0 Cirencester Town 0

7:18pm Sunday 27th January 2013 in Sport

EVESHAM United drew a blank in their first Evo-Stik Southern League Division One South and West home match of 2013.

There was little quality to excite the 223 spectators who braved the cold amid a biting wind to witness one of only six games in the division that survived the weather.

The sterling work of United’s groundsman and a band of volunteers who shifted snow off the pitch 24 hours before kick-off enabled the game to go ahead following a morning inspection at the Jubilee Stadium.

Leading scorer Marcus Palmer returned to Evesham’s starting line-up, while midfielder Simon Fitter started on the bench after serving a three-match ban and skipper Matt Sysum faced his former club for the first time.

The Centurions looked the sharper in the first-half with Leigh Henry and Ben Wells going close and Ellis Dunton thumping a header against the United crossbar.

The second period was scrappy with both sides guilty of giving the ball away.

Evesham keeper Tom Cross was at full stretch to get a hand to Aiden Bennett’s drive, while a couple of half chances fell the Robins’ way which went unconverted.

Cirencester pressed in the closing stages looking for the breakthrough but found the home defence in defiant mood and with Sysum controlling things at the back, successfully saw off the threat to register only their second home draw this season.

Evesham United: Cross, Wilson, Hyde, Sysum, Clarke, Blake, Downing (Fitter 79), Adkins, Palmer, Brown (Kandekore 74), Gayton. Subs not used: Spence, Edwards, Dell.

Attendance: 223.