Marine 3 Sporting Club Inkberrow 1

Match Report from Pete Crockett

MARINE DIG DEEP AS GRIT, GRAFT, AND GAME PLAN DELIVER VICTORY

By the time the players emerged the pitch already looked a weary combatant. It lay heavy and sodden, a treacherous quilt of mud and loosened turf, the sort of surface that grabs at the ankles and sends the ball skidding away with malicious intent.

Each challenge tore fresh divots from the earth, which flew like shrapnel, whilst every sprint was energy sapping. This was a day for resilience as much as refinement. It was also a day where but for the admirable hard work of the ground-staff the match would not have been played.

Supermarine, extending their unbeaten run to three matches, began with an assurance that belied the conditions. In the third minute Piotr Petrynski drilled a cross of real menace across the face of goal, the ball flashing past advancing shirts untouched yet full of promise.

Three minutes later a deft touch from Conor McDonagh again freed Petrynski whose low centre was well dealt with by a vigilant visiting defence. Then in the tenth minute another probing Petrynski cross demanded further stern defensive resistance.

The thirteenth minute proved decidedly unlucky for the hosts. A long ball was chased decisively by Aidan Clark who surged beyond the Marine back line and finished with composure - driving low past Luke Purnell.

Inkberrow almost doubled their lead shortly afterwards: Tom Emblem’s skidding effort forced Purnell into a sharp dive, and when the loose ball fell kindly, Piotr Petrynski snuffed out the danger.

Marine responded with pressure rather than panic, though they were initially stifled by Inkberrow’s disciplined shape. Tawana Changa went close on twenty-five minutes, his low shot skimming just wide, before parity was restored three minutes later.

A Petrynski corner caused chaos in the goalmouth and Conor McDonagh, alert amidst the scramble, struck decisively to equalise. The contest now ebbed and flowed, shaped as much by the surface as by the players. Chances were fashioned and spurned at either end, keeper Luke Purnell notably denying Inkberrow’s Clark.

Then, just before the interval, came the moment that irrevocably tipped the balance in Marine’s favour. Jake Waterfield’s lunge scythed into Marine’s Dayo Sonoiki above the ankle, and while the stands hummed with conflicted judgment over the appropriate sanction the referee, perfectly placed and unwavering, had no such doubt. The red card rose, stark and unforgiving - a splash of crimson against the glowering dark sky.

Marine had chances immediately after the half time break. Brad Hooper volleyed over acrobatically, Sid Gbla followed suit after a neat interchange. However, Inkberrow, to their credit, threatened too. Clark rounded Purnell on fifty-five minutes and seemed certain to score only for Marine’s Olly Case to hurl himself back and block heroically on the line.

The home team breakthrough arrived on sixty-five minutes and it was worth the wait. Substitute Sal Abubakar, who had only been on the pitch six minutes, danced down the flank and delivered a low cross with precision to Brad Hooper, who controlled, turned, and finished with elegance - quality triumphing over the clawing clay.

Marine pressed on. Substitute Frankie Monk went close before debutant Jonathan Asamoah’s from our U18s side found space and his pace stretched tiring visiting legs. However, Inkberrow showed character committing men forward in a final burst of attacking defiance. An act of necessity that inevitably left them vulnerable to the counterattack.

In the eighty-ninth minute Marine’s Sal Abubakar seized on a defensive muddle near the touchline and, from an acute angle, produced a delicious lob into the keeper vacated goal that settled the contest but there was still time for the home team’s Zach Rugman to force a sharp near post save in stoppage time.

Marine had prevailed in a battle as much against the conditions as the opposition. Inkberrow, reduced to ten for forty five minutes, showed impressive character throughout with Clark and Emblem particularly impressive.

For Supermarine there were many positives: Purnell’s saves, Sam Turl’s energetic assurance at full-back, Changa’s tireless midfield running, and the class of McDonagh and Hooper.

Afterwards Marine manager Bobby Wilkinson spoke with evident satisfaction about a victory he felt had been forged in whole team character. He praised his players for their willingness to “dig in” on what he described as an energy-sapping surface. He noted that the conditions demanded collective effort and unity rather than individual flourish.

The manager was particularly pleased with the togetherness of his squad and the way senior players supported younger ones. He added that it gave him real pride to see graduates of the club’s youth pathway, like Dayo Sonoiki and Jonathan Asamoah, contributing to a hard-earned success.

On a surface that demanded digging deep Marine did exactly that - and were deservedly rewarded.

Come on Marine!

Attendance: 147

Manager:	Bobby Wilkinson
Line-up:	Colours: Blue & White Hoops
No	Player	Goals	Card	No	Substitute	Goals	Card
1	Luke Purnell [GK]
2	Sam Turl
3	Piotr Petrynski
4	Olly Case
5	Jamie Edge			16	Miles Ferguson 68’
6	Tawana Changa
7	Dayo Sonoiki			14	Sal Abubakar 59’	90’
8	Max Hemmings (c)
9	Conor McDonagh	28’		12	Frankie Monk 60’
10	Sid Gbla			17	Jonny Asamoah 71’
11	Brad Hooper	66’		15	Zach Rugman 86’

Editors Star Men: Sam Turl
Subs not used: None

Manager:	Umit Eminoglu
Line-up:	Colours: Green & White
No	Player	Goals	Card	No	Substitute	Goals	Card
1	Gabriel Bajrami [GK]
2	Alex Griffiths		64’	15.	Aaron Evans-Harriott 69’
3	Syrus Warren-Paul
4	Gregor Guy (c)
5	Ruben Freeman
6	Luke Bastable			12.	Bill Coughlin 53’
7	Louis Cook		78’	16.	Jackson Preece 73’
8	Jake Wakefield		25’
9	Aiden Clark	15’
10	Tom Emblem
11	Jack Tolley		10’	17.	Raheem Spencer 83’

Editors Star Man:
Subs not used: 14 Umit Eminoglu