CIRENCESTER were unlucky not at least to get a draw out of this thrilling cup tie against Premier League side Clevedon Town.

Clevedon got the game underway on a very heavy pitch but it was Cirencester who were first to threaten when Steve Bennett laid a perfect ball for Scott Griffin but his angled shot was just wide.

As the game progressed and with the heavy conditions worsening Clevedon with their no thrills direct approach style were getting more into the game and on 27 minutes slightly against the run of play they opened the scoring when James Zabak beat the offside trap to get behind the Cirencester defence and his pinpoint cross found Andy Mainwaring in space and he blasted home from six yards.

Virtually from the restart Cirencester had strong appeals for a penalty ignored when Scott Griffin was bundled over in the box.

From a quick break Andy Mainwaring found James Zabak in space and his powerful shot was well saved by Kevin Sawyer at full stretch. For the remainder of the game Cirencester pushed everything forward looking for that all important equaliser, Scott Griffin going close with a powerful shot.