Havant & Waterlooville 3 Marine 2
Pitching In Southern League Premier South | Saturday 5th April 2025
Match Report from Pete Crockett
MARINE LOSE OUT IN FIVE GOAL THRILLER
“…The first half we played it fairly well. It was an open game and both teams attacked. We went in 2-1 up at half time. We definitely did not sit back in the second half but they had a very good reaction – they have some good attacking players. We still felt there were chances on the break for us and there were. We were unfortunate at the end – we should have had a penalty. Olly headed the ball past the keeper, was honest, and didn’t go down. The keeper hit him in the face, and he stayed on his feet, but it should still be a penalty. To score two goals here and come away with nothing hurts. The players are dejected. We try to take positives out of it but it is another loss. Today hurts more because we played well.“
The home team opened the scoring in the fifth minute. A Leon Maloney corner was knocked into the path of Ryan Seager by George Milner-Smith. Seager in turn set it across to Callum Kealy who finished from close range.
Marine then went close when a Liam Angel through ball sent Dave Sims-Burgess clear. The Marine striker looked to hook the ball over the home team keeper, but the back-pedalling Lorenz Ferdinand tipped it onto the cross bar and a Havant defender then cleared. Around the half hour mark Dan Brabham made a series of sharp saves from Callum Kealy, Olly Pendlebury, and Leon Maloney.
Marine were also a threat going forward and equalised in the 34th minute. Zach Kotwica chipped a ball over the Hawks defence and Harry Williams ran onto it deftly chipping his effort over the advancing keeper. Immediately from the kick off Ryan Seager thought he had restored the Hawks lead, but he was thwarted by the assistant’s flag much to the relief of the Marine players.
A flowing move just before half time saw Marine take the lead. Nick Peare won the ball in the air and found Zack Kotwica. The Marine midfielder slipped a well measured pass into the path of Michael Fernandes who from close range fired a powerful effort into the top corner.
The Hawks started the second half with high energy. Winning possession in the 49th minute the Hawks midfielder Leon Maloney bought the ball forward knocking a pass to Callum Kealy who, in turn, slid the ball across the face of the goal to Ryan Seager who netted from close range.
Marine were now under the cosh. Ryan Seager fired an effort over the bar; Callum Kealy was denied by a last-ditch block; and the irrepressible Seager was thwarted by another good save from Dan Brabham.
With a quarter of an hour remaining the hosts took the lead. Leon Maloney passed to Reuben Swann who drove down the flank and put in an inch perfect cross for Ryan Seager to net from close range.
In the final quarter of an hour both sides had strong penalty appeals. The host’s Reuben Swann going down in the area following a Nick Peare tackle and then Marine’s Ollie Mehew being punched in the head as the host’s keeper misjudged his challenge.
It seemed to those of a Marine disposition that their player was punished for staying on his feet even though the contact was an obvious one that disadvantaged the forward.
At the end of the day Marine were able to reflect upon a much improved performance with positives to build upon for two crucial matches against Frome Town and Poole Town. Now only a point above the relegation zone it is obvious that securing points from these two games is an imperative.
There were enough positives within the last two Marine performances to believe that is totally feasible. As Stuart Fleetwood said “Frome is the biggest game of the season. It is really important we play with the energy we have in the last two and create the chances we have in these games. We will be working hard this week in preparing a game plan.
The next two games are going to shape where this club is going to be. The strikers will go into the game with confidence. I thought the front three were very good – they caused Havant a lot of problems. If we play like we have for the last two games I am hoping it will go positively.“
Come on Marine!
Editors Havant Star Man: Ryan Seager
Editors Marine Star Man: Harry Williams
Attendance: 820
Line Ups
HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE
Manager: Shaun North
Colours: All White
Line-up: 1. Lorenz Ferdinand 2. Devante Stanley (8. Alfy Whittingham 46’) 3. Reuben Livesey-Austin 9. Ryan Seager 10. Leon Maloney 11 Callum Kealy (19. Kaya Tshaka 90’) 12. Oliver Pendlebury 14. Nana Owusa (15. Reuben Swan 69’) 16. George Miller-Smith 18. Josh Dockerill 20. Harry Laidlaw
Subs Not Used: 13. Alan Walker-Harris (GK), 17. Michael Aston
Goalscorers: Callum Kealy 
, Ryan Seager 49’, 75’
Cards: Alfy Whittingham 68’, Josh Dockerill 86’ 
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SWINDON SUPERMARINE 
Head Coach: Stuart Fleetwood
Colours: All Yellow
Line-up: 1. Dan Brabham 2. Sam Turl 3. Liam Angel (15. Jake Lee 63’) 4. Jamie Edge (c) (16.Gabe Reivers 89’) 5. Ioan Richards 6. Anton Dworzak (17.Henry Spalding 63’) 7. Zack Kotwica 8. Nick Peare 9. Harry Williams (14.Lucias Vine 89’) 10. Michael Fernandes 11. Dave Sims-Burgess (12._Olly Mehew 79’)
Subs not used: None
Goalscorers: Harry Williams 34’ , Michael Fernandes 43’
Cards:
Michael Fernandes 45’
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Match Gallery
Click to view Match Photo’s
Courtesy of Alex White Photography
Team Sheet
Click for post Match Team Sheet
Courtesy of the Pitching In Southern League
Match Officials
Referee: Tom Farr
Assistant Referees: Harry Waldron, Des McCulloch
