Messenger grabs a draw
CIRENCESTER Town returned to league action with a 3-3 Southern League, Division One Central draw against Waltham Abbey.
In a match littered with free kicks, yellow cards, injury delays, six goals and a dismissal, Cirencester led in the opening minutes through Joe Shepherd.
After creating a number of early chances, they were pegged back by a well-worked goal from their visitors as Declan Rydings placed his shot into the top left corner.
Eight minutes into the second period Christian Adu Gyamfi collected a clearance and charged down the right channel to the edge of the penalty area to score.
Four minutes later a corner kick was recycled to the taker who rifled a shot from the left corner of the home box that struck the bar and was tucked away by the alert Gyamfi from close range to make it 3-1.
Cirencester pulled a goal back immediately with a neat move and composed finish from Levi Irving and it was game on - even more so shortly after the mid-point of the half Waltham were reduced to 10 men.
Three minutes into the 13 minutes of added-time Cirencester equalised when Reegan Messenger headed home from a corner.
In Division One South, Evesham United, who have extended the loan of Oxford United goalkeeper Fraser Barnsley for another month, sit fourth after they edged out Lymington Town 2-1 as goals from Charlie Wise on 22 and 89 minutes sandwiched Luke Gray’s 70th-minute reply for the Linnets.
Evesham United secured a last-gasp victory at the Spiers & Hartwell Stadium on Saturday as they beat Lymington for the second week in a row.
A Charlie Wise brace, including an 88th-minute winner, was enough to hand The Robins their fourth victory of the league campaign.
Wise opened the scoring with a potential goal of the season candidate, a beautifully placed shot from the left side of the Lymington box that bent into the far right corner.
Gray fired the visitors back level with a powerful strike from 25 yards out and it looked like Evesham would have to settle for a point until the last-minute halfvolley from Wise gave them the win.
Promoted Tavistock were 4-1 winners at home to Bishop’s Cleeve as Alex Battle bagged a brace, with Ben Cross and Tallan Burns adding the others – George Box having equalised for Cleeve just before the break.