Salisbury 3 Marine 2

Pitching In Southern League Premier South | Tuesday 15th August 2023

Posted by Keith Yeomans on August 16th 2023

`Match Report from Pete Crockett`

Sluggish start costs Marine

Swindon Supermarine ultimately paid the price for a sluggish start. Fifteen minutes into the match they found themselves two goals down and faced with a daunting challenge. The cold reality is that at Marine’s level you cannot give opponents a two-goal start and expect to secure too many points.

In the early stages of the match the Salisbury pressure was incessant. The hosts were dominating possession, winning most of the skirmishes, and losing their markers with an ease that was always likely to lead to goals being conceded.

As early as the 5th minute the warning signs were there when a Joshua Hedges effort forced a good save from Charlie Searle in the Marine goal. There was though an unnerving sense that it would only be a matter of time before the host’s took the lead and, in the 9th minute, that proved to be the case.

Charlie Gunson put in a dangerous corner that was met by Theo Lewis. His effort was well saved by Charlie Searle but the former Marine player James Harding slotted in the rebound from close range. Six minutes later Marine found themselves two goals down.

A dangerous cross from Joshua Hedges was cleared by Mat Liddiard but it then rebounded into James Harding and, from a Marine perspective, cruelly bounced off his heel and into the back of the net.

Still the hosts kept coming at Marine and with 21 minutes elapsed some deft footwork by Jamar Smith found Theo Lewis in space, but his shot narrowly missed the target.

At this point the Marine support were dreading a hammering as their team struggled to get a foothold in the game. However, credit to the players they dug deep for the remainder of the first half and kept the deficit to two goals.

The second half saw Marine win a greater share of possession, press with greater gusto, and pass with increased confidence. George Dowling and Jamie Edge started to shine in midfield and their increased winning of possession enabled Joe Tumelty to find his passing game.

It was thus no great surprise when Marine pulled one back in the 52nd minute. A good build up saw the ball fall to Henry Spalding who hit a forceful effort at goal that was pushed out by Josh Gould into the path of Joe Tumelty who made no mistake from close range.

Chasing the equaliser Marine continued to press but this always brings with it the risk of being caught on the counter attack and in the 64th minute that is exactly what happened. A long clearance from the Salisbury keeper found Dan Fitchett who got in behind the Marine defence. He then played the ball centrally to Charlie Gunson who assuredly stroked the ball into the back of the net.

The concession of this goal could have sapped the spirit of the Marine players, but they kept battling and in the 89th minute reduced the arrears to one. A powerful George Dowling shot was parried by the host’s keeper, but Levi Irving was the quickest to the rebound netting his second goal in three games.

As the final whistle approached the home team supporters were baying desperately for the final whistle and were mighty relieved when after six minutes of injury time the referee bought proceedings to an end.

This was a match where Marine paid the price for a lacklustre start to the game. However, there were positives to build upon. The second half saw Marine look more their old selves. The passing was crisper, the energy levels more intense, the defending more assured, the midfield won more ball and retained possession with greater assuredness, and two well worked goals were scored.

At 2-0 down after 15 minutes the Marine players could have buckled but they did not and battled to the final whistle to get something from the match. Glass half empty summary – Marine cannot afford to be as slipshod as they were in the early stages of this match. Glass half full summation – show the character, effort, and skill levels of the second half for a full ninety minutes and the results will turn.

Editors Marine Star Man: Charlie Searle
Editors Salisbury Star Man: Charlie Gunson

Attendance: 528

`Line Ups`

Salisbury
Manager: Brian Dutton
Colour: White & Black
Line-up: 1. Josh Gould 2. Aaron Simpson (12. Charlie Wooding 88’) 4. Tom Leggett 5. Sido Jombati (c) 7. Charlie Gunson 8. Aaron McCreadie 10. James Harding (9. Dan Fitchett) 11. Noah Copplin 14. Josh Hedges 16. Theo Lewis (12. Ryan Penny 46’) 18. Jamar Smith
Goalscorer: James Harding 10’, 14’, Charlie Gunson 65’
Subs Not Used: 13. Ernest Osei (GK), 15. Adejola Lagan
Cards:
Aaron McCreadie 60’, Dan Fitchett 90’ Yellow Card
None Red Card
None Yellow & Red Card