Exmouth Town 3 Marine 2

Match Report from Pete Crockett

AN AWAY MATCH REPEAT

Football has an unforgiving memory, and for Swindon Supermarine it proved altogether too sharp on the Devonian coast.

This felt like a replay of the Frome Town defeat rather than a new episode: a chastening first half, a stirring but ultimately insufficient revival after the interval, and the familiar sense that the route to redemption had arrived a few minutes too late.

At Frome on Wednesday Marine conceded two soft goals before half-time and then rallied. At Exmouth the team managed to surpass that unwanted feat conceding three and again left themselves an ascent so steep that even their second-half conviction could not scale it.

Bobby Wilkinson arrived with his options thinned. Luke Purnell, Sam Turl, Tom Farnsworth, Josh Grant, Dan Warre and Joe Beardwell were all absent through a mixture of illness, suspension, and injury. It is a list that would strain even the deepest squad; for a young side it bordered on punitive.

The opening exchanges hinted at resistance. Exmouth forced three corners inside the first minute, all competently defended, before Marine responded with a Joe Owiti effort that won a corner and a Josh Blyth header that skimmed the bar. It was the sort of early skirmish that suggested equilibrium.

That balance lasted ten minutes. Then came the first lapse. A good save from Lucas Myers should have cleared the danger, but Marine failed three times to finish the job. Tom Bath, recently returned to Exmouth colours needed no invitation. It was a poor goal to concede, the sort that drains confidence as much as it lifts the scorer.

Marine then enjoyed possession without incision and were nearly punished further when Ethan Slater fired narrowly wide. There were half-chances at the other end for Owiti and George Alston as Marine sought a foothold but Exmouth on the counterattack looked the more incisive.

By the half-hour the warning signs were unmistakable. Chris Knowles crossed for Bath, whose header drifted wide, and moments later Knowles struck a shot destined for the net only for Tawana Changa to block bravely on the line. The reprieve was brief.

On thirty-five minutes Exmouth doubled their lead. Ben Steer tapped in from close range after the Marine defence was sliced open with disquieting ease. Three minutes later it was three. A ball worked down the right, a cross whipped viciously across the face of goal, and Ben Steer, unmarked, headed home. It was men against boys.

The interval arrived as a mercy. Three goals conceded, all avoidable, and too many visiting players below the standard demanded at this level. As at Frome the mountain loomed. Yet there is something admirable about this Marine side and it surfaced again after the restart. They played with urgency and belief.

In the fifty-fifth minute they should have had a lifeline. Slick wing play ended with Sal Abubakar six yards out shaping to shoot before being scythed down. It was a cast iron penalty except in the eyes of the referee. The disbelief of Marine supporters behind the goal quickly curdled into exasperated fury.

Marine pressed on regardless. Owiti forced a fine save from Aaron Dearing; Changa headed over from a Piotr Petrynski cross. On sixty-nine minutes Dearing produced a sharp double save to deny Sid Gbla and Frankie Monk. The pressure finally told when in the 69th minute JOSH BLYTH powered home a header from a corner to make it 3–1.

Exmouth wobbled. Marine scented vulnerability. Owiti blazed over after a scramble and then came another decisive moment. A wild challenge through the back of a Marine forward left the referee little choice this time. Rapha Oppong’s penalty was saved, but justice, of a sort, intervened as the assistant ruled the keeper off his line. TAWANA CHANGA converted the retake with composure.

At 3–2, the impossible flirted with plausibility. Oppong crossed superbly for Gbla, the ball broke to Max Hemmings on the edge of the area, and his shot passed just wide. It was the last meaningful act.

Marine left Exmouth with nothing, yet not without credit. The second-half display showed character, courage, and no small amount of footballing intelligence. It would be indulgent to dwell too long on refereeing misjudgements, however galling. The decisive damage was self-inflicted before the break.

This is a young team with clear quality and commendable spirit. But football at this level is a contest not merely of skill but of authority. Too often Marine are unassertive where they must be combative, pliant where they must be obstinate. Grit earns the right to exhibit your footballing finesse.

Marine manager Bobby Wilkinson spoke afterwards of a game of two halves, praising his team’s response while lamenting the repeated first half pattern.

The brutal reality is that the Marine players must collectively learn to endure the tough passages as well as they play the attractive ones. Until they do so they will continue to make demanding work of matches that need not be quite so cruel. Successfully negotiate this challenge and there is every reason to believe this team’s strengths will come to the fore.

Come on Marine!

Attendance: 215

Managers:	Kevin Hill & Gary Pearce
Line-up:	Colours: Blue & White
No	Player	Goals	Card	No	Substitute	Goals	Card
1	Aaron Dearing [GK]
2	Sam Morcom
3	Josh Cann
4	Ollie Knowles
5	Jacob Shore
6	Mike Landricombe (c)
8	Callum Shipton
10	Tom Bath	9’		9.	Ace High 81’
12	Ethan Slater			11.	Ben Griffin’
15	Aaron Denny
17	Ben Steer	34’,38’		14.	Ed Butcher 78’

Editors Star Man: Ethan Slater
Subs not used: Chris Wright, Karl Riddell

Manager:	Bobby Wilkinson
Line-up:	Colours: All Yellow
No	Player	Goals	Card	No	Substitute	Goals	Card
1	Luke Myers [GK]
2	Tawana Changa	82’pen
3	Piotr Petrynski
4	Olly Case		92’
5	Josh Blythe	69’
6	Zach Rugman			14	Frankie Monk 65’
7	Sal Abubakar			16	Dayo Sonoiki 66’
8	Jamie Edge			15	Max Hemmings 67’
9	Jo Owiti
10	Rapha Oppong		76’
11	George Alston			15	Sid Gbla 68’

Editors Star Man: Tawana Changa
Subs not used: Luke Purnell