FAIRFORD Town did not allow the adjustment of a switch to a Friday night fixture affect their title credentials in Hellenic League Division One West as they swept to a 2-0 win over Cirencester Town Development.

The match was moved to mark the official unveiling of new floodlights at Fairford’s Cinder Lane home and it took the league leaders just under half-an-hour to get the party started as Jack Ellis broke the deadlock after being played in by strike partner Nathan Gambling.

Gareth Davies’ side continued to dictate possession but had to wait until 20 minutes into the second half to make their lead a more comfortable one as James Lawrence-Forbes finished a quick counter to put the hosts two goals to the good.

More chances came for Fairford before the final whistle but they were unable to make them count and in the end, manager Davies was just happy to tick off another marker in their quest to be crowned champions.

“It was just a case of getting another three points, just grinding it out. We played quite well, which is good to see,” said Davies.

“The Letcombe game previously probably wasn’t our best performance but we won ugly, whereas on Friday, we looked tidy and did things at the right times.

“The back four were superb. They never looked flustered and dealt with everything that came their way.

“Cirencester have got a couple of good little lads up front and they dealt with them really well.

“The midfield boys were busy. They kept the ball ticking over and when they had to stick their foot in, they did that well.

“And the front two, although Nathan didn’t get a goal, he put Jack in for his, so they did well too.

“It was two decent finishes, two decent goals and overall, it was a good day at the office.

“I said to the chairman maybe we should play Friday night every week as it puts a bit of pressure on people as they know what they have to get the next day.

“If we had dropped points on Friday, it would have been a tough day on Saturday looking at the scores on Twitter, but we managed to win and overall, I’m really pleased.”

Shrivenham made it back-to-back victories, and three games unbeaten, with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at home to North Leigh United to put more distance between themselves and the foot of the table.

Daryl Charman opened the scoring for Michael McNally’s men on 22 minutes but three minutes later, Alfie Saunders equalised for United from the penalty spot.

Callum Little’s strike five minutes before the break proved the winner for Shrivvy.

Second-from-bottom New College were without a game this weekend, while Purton did not enjoy their break from league action either.

They were knocked out of the Bluefin Sports Supplementary Challenge Cup following a 3-1 extra-time reverse at home to Cheltenham Saracens.