A SMALL group of Bromsgrove Rovers fans had already labelled this painful end of season run-in as a relegation tour'.
Now even the most optimistic members of the green and white faithful will reluctantly agree.
Indeed, it has been a tour that couldn't have been more treacherous if they had bought the Olympic torch along with them.
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Rovers are now in need of a minor miracle after sloppy defending saw them crash to an already relegated side for the second week running.
There was yet more disbelief to contend with as Matt Taylor gave the home side a first-half lead.
When substitute Jozsef Jakab lifted the spirits of the Rovers fans with a typical poacher's goal at the death, there was a sense that even a share of the spoils wouldn't realistically suffice.
Even so, had Duane Darby's men come away with a point they would have left the field with a degree of acclaim for a valiant finish, however too little or too late it may have been.
But the old and increasingly familiar of adage of one step forwards and two steps back rang true once more.
Rovers went into defensive shutdown, allowing Cirencester time for an 85th minute winner courtesy of Michael Jackson.
All this after a game where Rovers controlled possession emphatically.
There had been a marked improvement in last Tuesday's stalemate with Bashley, but they reverted back to a team lacking ideas.
And how many times has that been said in recent weeks?
While Keenan Meakin-Richards was relatively untroubled in a shielding role, it was increasingly frustrating to see his midfield partners Chris Cornes, Jordan Fitzpatrick and Courtney Shaw get the better of their opposite numbers without an end product.
All three were tidy in possession but a distinct lack of natural width allowed them to be stifled by the home side, so much so Rovers' first-half amounted to speculative long range efforts from Cornes and Shaw.
The punishment for the fruitless huffing and puffing arrived when Centurions skipper Chris Collins' long clearance caught the Rovers back four by surprise and Taylor raced clear to guide a simple lob over Karl Lewis.
Fitzpatrick almost came up with the perfect response, volleying Shaw's cross wide from close range.
Taylor blew a chance to make it 2-0 after the break, again on the receiving end of a long clearance, which Daryl Burgess failed to clear.
With the second-half offering little at either end, Darby decided it was all or nothing, introducing himself and Jakab from the bench in quick succession to form a three-pronged attack with Dean Curtis.
From that point it was never going to be pretty, though there were signs that it may be effective, when Fitzpatrick fired a effort through a crowd of players.
The ball fortuitously fell for Darby, but the player-boss couldn't set himself in time for what would have been a simple six-yard finish.
Rovers must have felt like throwing in the towel when the match officials missed Harry Etheridge's blatant hand-ball in his own box eight minutes from time, before their long overdue slice of luck arrived minutes later.
Chris Duggan got in on the act, constantly venturing from his right-back spot.
He delivered a cross which split both Cirencester's centre-backs, and Jakab made a desperate stretch to squeeze the ball between goalkeeper Bulman and the post for the equaliser.
Rovers continued to commit bodies forward in search of one more priceless goal which could ultimately have turned this survival scrap back in their favour.
But while the gung-ho mentality was necessary, they should never have allowed Shaxton the time and space to rattle home Cirencester's winner.
Collins linked up with Bailey to cross from the right, Max Etheridge was left free at the back post to head back across goal and Jackson shot on the turn to find the net from close range.
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