Marine 2 Tavistock AFC 1

Match Report from Pete Crockett

MARINE SILENCE THE LAMBS

There are evenings when football resembles trench warfare, and there are days when, by the grace of a little sun and much labour, it rediscovers its more civilised arts. Only seven days earlier the surface at the Imagine Cruising Stadium had looked as though it might have been requisitioned for a cinematic re-enactment of the Somme.

Yet, beneath a fine Wiltshire mizzle, it had been coaxed back to respectability. Heavy, yes, but playable; yielding, yet honest. The ground staff deserve a great deal of credit.

Marine entered the contest with the seductive prospect of climbing the table against opponents rooted at its foot. Temptation whispered of a “free hit.” Experience, notably the salutary lesson against Brixham, counselled otherwise. There are no free gifts in this division, and Tavistock AFC arrived not as sacrificial Lambs but as stubborn ones.

The opening exchanges were circumspect, each side measuring the other with the caution of duellists testing distance. It was the visitors who first disturbed the peace. Ethan Wright struck low and true, compelling Lucas Myers to descend smartly down to his right.

Moments later came an escape that could have altered the mood entirely. From some 25-yards Tavistock’s Leighton Thomas unleashed a drive of splendid ambition which cannoned against the crossbar with a metallic thud.

The rebound was seized and returned with venom toward goal. A goal seemed certain. Yet Lucas Myers, arm extended to improbable length, flung himself rightward and down to repel the effort. In that instant one sensed how thin is the membrane between comfort and calamity; Tavistock, mired at the bottom, might reasonably have wondered whether good fortune keeps a blacklist.

That double alarm jolted Marine into animation. In the ninth minute Conor McDonagh, all velvet touch and nimble wit, wriggled free under pressure and slipped a pass of surgical precision down the right channel to Sam Turl.

The full-back’s low cross was delivered into that delicious corridor of uncertainty where defenders dither and goalkeepers hesitate. SID GBLA, sliding with admirable conviction applied the decisive touch from six yards, steering the ball inside the far post. It was a goal conceived in footballing intelligence and executed with clinical effectiveness.

Marine scented opportunity. Brad Hooper, robust and purposeful, shrugged off his marker to win a corner. From the delivery Miles Ferguson rose, directing a firm header goalwards, only for Jack Arthur to save capably.

On 31 minutes the second goal arrived, crafted on the training ground and presented with classroom clarity. Piotr Petrynski arced an in-swinging corner of enviable accuracy towards the goal mouth. OLLY CASE met it with a header as authoritative as a magistrate’s gavel. The net bulged; simplicity itself, though simplicity is so often the fruit of repetition and rigour.

Before the interval Sid Gbla, irrepressible in spirit, attempted an acrobatic scissor-kick from a cross - his effort flashed narrowly wide. It would have been a goal for the scrapbook; instead, it remained a flourish in the margin.

The second half unfolded in familiar pattern. Marine monopolised possession with measured patience, while Tavistock dug in with commendable resolve. Around the hour mark Marine chances came in clusters. Conor McDonagh struck powerfully, Arthur saving well.

From a teasing Piotr Petrynski cross Tawana Changa lifted his effort just over. A Max Hemmings drive deflected behind, and from the ensuing corner Petrynski’s flick found Sid Gbla, whose header skimmed the bar.

With fifteen minutes remaining Brad Hooper hammered a shot goalwards which struck a defender’s hand at close quarters. The appeal was spirited but brief. The ball had been struck ferociously, the distance scant, the hands in no unnatural position. Referee Adam Wilson, admirably consistent throughout, declined the invitation to theatrics and allowed play to proceed.

As the clock ticked down Marine appeared in serene control, shaping themselves defensively with discipline. Yet football delights in late mischief. After Marine’s Brad Hooper had forced another fine save with a header, Tavistock countered with sharpness. Tom Chastey found LEIGHTON THOMAS, who from 20-yards dispatched a crisp strike beyond Myers to score. The Lambs had found voice at last.

There followed a curious postscript. Marine’s Joe Owiti, alert and opportunistic, blocked a goalkeeper’s drop-kick, the ball rebounding into the net. For a fleeting moment celebration beckoned, but the referee’s whistle intervened; the effort was rightly disallowed.

So it ended 2–1, closer in arithmetic than in balance, yet close enough to quicken the pulse in stoppage time. Tavistock AFC merit credit. Under sustained pressure they retained defensive structure and belief.

Josh Baxter impressed with defensive solidity, and Leighton Thomas demonstrated that a team’s position in the table does not define the ambition of its forwards. Had his early thunderbolt dipped inches lower the narrative might have been altogether different.

For Marine there was much to savour. The team looked defensively solid and Miles Ferguson marked his debut with composure. Lucas Myers’ eighth-minute save was of pivotal importance. In midfield, territory was claimed and chances fashioned.

Ahead of them, Conor McDonagh and Brad Hooper blended craft with experience, while Sid Gbla’s high energy performance lent the attack its pulse.

Marine supporters might reflect that more ruthless finishing would have spared the late tremor. Yet better the profligacy of abundance than the sterility of scarcity. An invaluable victory, hard earned, briefly endangered in stoppage time, but ultimately well deserved.

Marine silenced the Lambs, though not before being reminded that in this league every opponent is a tough one.

Come on Marine!

Attendance: 163

MARINE

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	Piotr Petrynski
4	Olly Case	31’
5	Miles Ferguson
6	Tawana Changa			15	Sal Abubakar 73’		94’
7	Dayo Sonoiki
8	Max Hemmings (c)
9	Conor McDonagh			12	Joe Owiti 72’
10	Sid Gbla	9’		16	Zach Rugman 76’
11	Brad Hooper

Editors Star Man: Sid Gbla
Subs not used: 14. Jonathan Asamoah, 17. Jamie Edge

TAVISTOCK AFC

Manager:	Stuart Henderson
Line-up:	Colours: Red & Black
No	Player	Goals	Card	No	Substitute	Goals	Card
1	Jack Arthur [GK]
3	Ethan Wright
5	Josh Baxter
6	Callum Watson
8	Lewie Rendle			10.	Tom Chastey 59’
11	Jack Crago (c)			9.	Ryan White 46’		94’
14	Alfie Clark			12.	Elis Aldrich 56’
16	Reece Lindsell			15.	Oliver North 61’
17	Jon Rawlings			4.	Dillon Sutherland 29’
18	Leighton Thomas	93’
19	Kian Birch

Editors Star Man: Josh Baxter Subs not used: None