Marine 1 Gloucester City 3

Match Report from Pete Crockett

IT AIN’T ALL OVER UNTIL THE FAT LADY SINGS

The metaphorical fat lady is in the stage wings gargling away to ease her throat. She is readying to belt out her aria lamenting the relegation of Swindon Supermarine. However, to shamelessly mix metaphors, “the future is not yet carved in stone.“

With a match remaining there is still a chance and all connected with the club need now to take a step back from recriminations and focus on that one last opportunity to retain the club’s step 3 status.

In terms of the match itself Marine players battled hard but they were playing a stronger side. In such circumstances everything has to fall into place for the underdogs. What chances you create need to be taken. What good fortune you have needs to be built upon. You need to find a way to break the swagger of a promotion challenging team. The reality is that after the resilience of the first thirty minutes this rarely looked like happening.

Marine did well in the first quarter of an hour battling hard and limiting the visitor’s opportunities. The home team players had come out with a determination to make life difficult and were not afraid to put in some robust challenges.

Gloucester’s first chance of note came in the 18th minute when Kevin Dawson hit the cross bar. However, Marine three minutes later created a chance of their own when some good build up play set Henry Spalding clear. However, the visiting keeper was off his line swiftly to stifle the chance.

On the half hour mark the Tigers thought they had taken the lead only to have their celebrations thwarted by the raised flag of the assistant. Elis Watts fired a shot on goal from distance and the ball bounced off the post and was netted by Joe Hanks who was, to the relief of Marine supporters, deemed to be in an offside position.

On 37 minutes Gloucester City did take the lead. Dayle Grubbs effort was well saved by Dan Brabham but Joe Hanks was on hand to nodded the parried ball into the back of the net from close range and an open goal. The pressure had been pretty much one way and this was reflected in the fact that in the first half the visitors had won seven corners.

The second half started in the same vein with Gloucester applying the pressure and Marine trying to pick them off on the counterattack. In the 52nd minute Zac Pinchard played in Elis Watts down the right but good defending by Ioan Richards snuffed out the danger.

On 53 minutes the visitors doubled their lead with what was a Deja-vu type of goal. Dayle Grubb fired a shot on goal, Dan Brabham made another decent save, and Joe Hanks netted the rebound this time slotting the ball home again from close range.

Three minutes later Marine’s Dave Sims-Burgess was cautioned for a clumsy challenge that led to the visitor’s Dan Leadbitter having to leave the field of play. The in the 63rd minute the visitors scored their third. Elis Watts advancing on goal fired a shot on target. Dan Brabham saved but Watts followed up to net the rebound.

By now Marine were on the ropes but a series of substitutions saw the home team rally and in the 80th minute Marine got one back when a Michael Fernandes cross-shot crept inside the far post as Harry Williams’ attempt to head the ball wrong footed Jared Thompson in the Gloucester goal.

The plethora of substitutions made by the visitors seemed to disrupt their previous defensive discipline and Marine had chances to reduce the deficit further. Michael Fernandes was set free down the left but was unable to get past the advancing keeper Jared Thompson and instead of pushing the ball past him to run the ball into an unguarded net he tried a bit of trickery and Thompson took the ball from him with a timely tackle. On several instances Marine forced Jared Thompson in the hosts goal into a number of timely interceptions but the brutal reality was it was all too little too late.

At the end of the match a couple of people asked me what I was going to write in my match report. I was genuinely unable to answer not out of rudeness but a sense of disappointed melancholic consternation that left me dumbfounded. How does the club find itself in their current position from the lofty heights of eighth place in January? What has gone wrong to see such a decline in form? How can players good enough to see us on the play off fringes just after Christmas turn into a team looking down the barrel of relegation?

The above are all totally justifiable questions that are perfectly reasonable for supporters to air but they need, in my view, to be placed on hold for another week. That proverbial fat lady has not yet sung, we still have one last chance to silence the diva, and that now needs to be the focus.

I hope significant numbers of the Marine support base will make the effort to be at the Walton and Hersham match. Now is not the time for introspection – it is the moment for supporters to get behind the team and for the players to give their all. If the worst happens Marine followers need to support each other and if we somehow survive it will be one heck of a celebration.

Come on Marine!

Marine Star Man: Ioan Richards
Gloucester Star Man: Elis Watts
Attendance: 724

Line Ups

SWINDON SUPERMARINE
Head Coach: Stuart Fleetwood
Colours: Blue & White Hoops
Line-up: 1. Dan Brabham 2. Sam Turl 3. Ryan Campbell 4. Jake Lee (15.Lucias Vine 61’) 5. Ioan Richards 6. Jamie Edge 18. Anton Dworzak (12.Harry Williams 55’) 7. Zack Kotwica 9. Dave Sims-Burgess 10. Michael Fernandes 11. Henry Spalding (16.Gabe Reivers 70’)
Subs not used: 14. Olly Mehew, 17. Liam Angel
Goalscorers: Michael Fernandes
Cards:
Anton Dworzak 51’, Dave Sims-Burgess 54’, Zack Kotwica 89’
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GLOUCESTER CITY
Manager: Mike Cook
Colours: Red & Black
Line-up: 1. Jared Thompson 2. Dan Leadbitter (18. Curtis Jemmett-Hutson 55’) 4. Ty Duffus 6. Dan Ball 7. Ed Williams 8. Harry Pinchard 10. Dayle Grubb (15. Liam Cross 61’) 13. Joe Hanks (11. Brandon Smalley 58 ’) 14. Ben Richards-Everton 16. Kevin Dawson (c) 20. Elis Watts
Subs not used: 17. Harry Emmett, 19. Harry Burns
Goalscorers: Joe Hanks 35’, 55’ , Elis Watts 58’
Cards:
Dan Ball 50’, Kevin Dawson 85’
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Match Gallery

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Courtesy of Alex White Photography

Post Match Teamsheet

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Courtesy of Southern Football League

Match Officials

Referee: Craig Davenport
Assistant Referees: Mawgan Andrew, Joseph Cannon