Marine 1 Larkhall Athletic 3

Match Report from Pete Crockett

THE LARKS TAKE THE POINTS

There are afternoons when analysis requires restraint, and there are afternoons when candour is the only honest course. This was the latter.

All credit must go to Larkhall Athletic. They defended with discipline when placed under sustained second-half pressure and, crucially, they took their chances with conviction. Yet their task was eased considerably by a first-half display from Marine that was as insipid as it was perplexing.

From the outset Larkhall battled, pressed and harried. They did the unglamorous work diligently and without complaint. Marine, by contrast, too often appeared reactive rather than assertive. The body language in certain quarters was unconvincing; shoulders slumped, urgency absent.

Where short sharp movements were required to create angles and passing channels some opted instead for hiding in plain sight. In this division industry is the minimum requirement. It was not consistently met.

The visitors took a deserved lead on 32 minutes. A throw-in, taken a good ten yards plus beyond the point at which the ball had exited went unchallenged. Harry Pritchard was afforded the freedom to slide a pass into the stride of Ryan Beckinsale, who dispatched his finish past Lucas Myers with authority. It was a goal born of avoidable concessions, positional laxity, and a failure to engage decisively.

Marine’s frustrations were compounded by what appeared a succession of unpunished fouls on Sam Turl, much to the displeasure of the home support. Referee Thompson’s threshold for intervention seemed generously high.

On 38 minutes Dawid Ragula nearly doubled the advantage, only to be denied by an excellent save from Myers. Shortly after, Harvey Pritchard was thwarted by a timely and brave intervention from Olly Case. Marine, at that stage, were surviving rather than competing.

It was no surprise when manager Bobby Wilkinson acted decisively at the interval making four substitutions.

To Marine’s credit, the response after the restart was tangible. Within five minutes substitute Joe Asamoah pivoted sharply and fired narrowly wide. Frankie Monk then delivered a teasing cross to the far post that evaded both Sal Abubakar and Conor McDonagh by the finest of margins.

On the hour Zach Rugman’s effort drifted just beyond the upright. The tempo had lifted; so too had the intent. Marine keeper Myers was called upon again in the 67th minute, producing two impressive saves to preserve hope.

Yet irritation resurfaced when Asamoah was cautioned for a challenge that, in match context, appeared decidedly innocuous.

Marine pressed. On 74 minutes Liam Armstrong reacted smartly to deny Asamoah’s swivelled effort with a low stop. It felt, briefly, as though momentum had shifted irrevocably. Football, however, is unsentimental.

Alas on 79 minutes a misplaced pass was seized upon by the visitor’s Dawid Regula, who advanced and finished with composure. It was efficient and clinical — attributes Marine had lacked earlier.

Sal Abubakar’s powerful header from a corner on 85 minutes reduced the deficit and injected late belief, but further defensive frailty when a soft back pass allowed Alex Camm a one-on-one opportunity which he converted assuredly to extinguish any lingering doubt.

Larkhall deserved their victory. They applied themselves diligently for ninety minutes plus and were rewarded accordingly.

Post-match, Marine manager Bobby Wilkinson was frank in his assessment, describing the opening period as among the poorest first halves he has witnessed from any team he has managed.

He acknowledged the improved second-half character with his team showing an urgency lacking in the first forty five minutes.

The Marine manager has regularly backed his defeated players where the effort has been evident. In terms of his team’s first half performance he, in this instances, was decidedly frustrated.

Mistakes can be accepted and absorbed. What is more difficult to reconcile is an absence of application. This league demands resilience, energy and a willingness to engage in the less decorative aspects of the game.

For forty-five minutes Marine fell short of that standard. Some players will need to reflect honestly on the intensity of their individual contribution.

A match report is not written to wound, but neither should it obscure. Marine’s abject first half defined the contest. The second half merely confirmed it.

Come on Marine!

Attendance: 344

Manager:	Bobby Wilkinson
Line-up:	Colours: [Blue & White Hoops()
No	Player	Goals	Card	No	Substitute	Goals	Card
1	Lucas Myers [GK]
2	Sam Turl
3	Tawana Changa
4	Olly Case
5	Miles Ferguson			15	Sal Abubakar 46’	86’
6	Tawana Changa
7	Dayo Sonoiki			16	Zach Rugman 46’
8	Max Hemmings (c)			12	Conor McDonagh 46’
9	Frankie Monk
10	Sid Gbla			14	Jonny Asamoah 46’		70’
11	Brad Hooper

Editors Star Man: Lucas Myers [GK]
Subs not used: 17 Jamie Edge

Manager:	John Durbin
Line-up:	Colours: Red & Black
No	Player	Goals	Card	No	Substitute	Goals	Card
1.	Liam Armstrong [GK]
2.	Jack Goodall			12.	Jeff Forku 62’		77’
3.	Spencer Dimond-Hall
4.	Sam Boulton (c)
5.	Lewis Graham
6.	Jack Camm		90’
7.	Alex Camm	89’	73’
8.	Ryan Beckinsale	32’
9.	Dawid Regula	79’		14.	Sam Tisdale 86’
10.	Harvey Pritchard			15.	Milo Murgatroyd 76’
11.	Freddie King			16.	Jamie Horrocks 91’

Editors Star Man: Ryan Beckinsale
Subs not used: 17. Kit Bond [GK]