CIRENCESTER slipped to their second straight defeat as Chosen Hill FP thumped them 58-31 in the first round of the Intermediate Cup.

Ciren had worked hard during the week, following their poor performance in their opening Gloucestershire Premier Division clash at Drybrook but a series of injuries and unavailabilities meant the team showed several changes, with a number of players playing out of position or making their debuts.

And despite an improved performance, they were let down by individual errors, particularly in the tackle situation.

Playing up the slope, Cirencester were immediately on the back foot as a determined Chosen Hill scored out wide three times inside the opening 10 minutes.

The only response was an Adam Seagar penalty, but the shock of being 22-3 down jolted Ciren into hitting back with two tries.

But they were disrupted by an injury to centre Harrison and two blood injuries, the latter to Brockbank that ruled him out of further involvement.

Defensive errors allowed Chosen Hill to rack up further scores and left Ciren trailing by 30 points at the interval.

The half-time team talk from coach Brian Johnson seemed to pep Cirencester up through and the half-backs Bassett and Webb-Peploe began to run the game.

The loss of captain Beachey disrupted the forwards, but Cirencester had the better of a better-tempered second half, reducing the final deficit with scores from Ramsey, Thompson and Weavin.

Ciren have their first home game this term, taking on Longlevens, at the Whiteway on Saturday.