Tiverton Town 1 Marine 0

Match Report from Pete Crockett

SUBSTANDARD MARINE

Swindon Supermarine supporters who watched the last two matches have every right to be underwhelmed. One hundred and eighty-minutes spectating to see their team have one shot on target, which incidentally was easily saved, is lamentable.

In both these games the Marine build up has been so ponderously slow it felt like watching a match in slow-mo. We have a lone striker outnumbered and feeding off scraps; we have a midfield who spend too much time sluggishly passing backwards or sideways; and only our defenders, wing backs, and keeper have come out of the last two fixtures with any honour.

In the last ten league games Marine have secured a paltry six points out of thirty. The team has scored less than a goal a game in those ten matches. Over ten matches Marine are the second lowest scorer in the league. The club is now a mere four points off the relegation places and the current trajectory is downwards. There is a worrying sense the club is sleepwalking into relegation.

In terms of the match itself two sides struggling for form got off to a scrappy start. For the first thirty minutes there was not a shot on target. Indeed, both sides failed to retain possession on a surface with the smoothness of a sheet of corrugated steel. On 42 minutes a cross from the left struck at goal by Tivvy’s Asa Hall bobbled aimlessly wide. That was the sum of first half efforts on goal.

On 73 minutes a curved effort from the home team’s Matt Britton was easily gathered by Fiachra Pagel in the Marine goal. Minutes later Dave Sims Burgess for Marine chipped a shot toward goal that clipped a defender. As it looped towards the goal area it was easily cleared with no Marine player close enough to exert any pressure.

In the 83rd minute a curved left flank free kick from Tivvy’s Asa Hall went through the two man wall, who had separated, and sneaked inside the near post to surprise Fiachra Pagel in the Marine goal. This was one of the few shots on target and proved to be the winning goal!

On 89 minutes Ryan Campbell had Marine’s first genuine shot in anger which just cleared the crossbar. Tivvy deserved to win this scrappy affair merely because they managed to get an effort on target. Marine have allowed themselves to be drawn into a relegation dogfight. The brutal reality is that it is often not the team with the greatest footballing quality that survive such scraps but the ones who care the greater and dig the deeper.

It is too easy an option to labour under the wishful thinking it will all turn out alright in the end; it is too cosy to jovially travel home shrugging off yet another disappointing defeat because it can always be put right next week; whilst the child like clinging to a comfort blanket that the team has too much quality to go down might be endearing in a three year old it is the solace of the misguided in sport.

Those next weeks are running out; the defeats are too commonplace; and no team is too good to go down - particularly if the genuinely committed players have to carry teammates who opt to promenade rather than compete. Those in the Marine dressing room can choose to deem the observations of supporters to be ultracrepidarians rambling on about footballing issues beyond their expertise. I would gently push back and say your average football supporter knows when the football their team is producing is not good enough. They sense when some players lack the desire to dig deep.

They certainly have the right to be irked when one hundred and eighty minutes football produces a mere one shot on goal. They have every justification to be annoyed when they see players hide in plain sight rather than doing their utmost to help a team mate out. They additionally have the right to question the sanity of playing the same way week in week out when results are nosediving. In the same way as you do not need to be a criminal to serve on a jury you do not need to be an expert in the inner workings of football to judge when things are substandard.

Some genuine soul searching from players and management to get out of this looming mess is needed. There are six matches to save the season. The club is looking down the relegation barrel. If the current mindset and level of performance persists the concluding chapter of Swindon Supermarine’s 2024/25 league season could well transpire to be an unhappy one. Survival can be achieved but it is going to require something significantly better than the insipid performances of the last two weeks.

Come on Marine!

Tiverton Star Man: Charlie Cummings
Marine Star Men: Ioan Richards
Attendance: 368

Line Ups

TIVERTON TOWN
Assistant Manager: Steve Orchard
Colours: Yellow & Black
Line-up: 1. Joe Duncan 3.** Dylan Jones 4. Toby Down 6. Matt Britton (c) 7. Joe Parker (11. Marcus Day 85’) 8. Asa Hall 10. Niall Thompson (12. Gabriel Billington 84’) 14. Jeff Forkuo 15. Charlie Cummings 16. Dan Koita (9. Joe Beardwell 74’) 18. Sam Gleeson
Subs not used: 5. Josh Jones, 13. Will Howard (GK),
Goalscorer: Asa Hall 83’
Cards:
Dylan Jones 37’
None
None

SWINDON SUPERMARINE
Head Coach: Stuart Fleetwood
Colours: Blue & White Hoops
Line-up: 1. Fiachra Pagel 2. Sam Turl 3. Ryan Campbell (c) 4. Jake Lee 6. Jamie Edge (15.Gabe Reivers 83’) 7. Zack Kotwica 8.Nick Peare 9. Harry Williams (14.Dave Sims-Burgess 64’) 10. Michael Fernandes 11. Henry Spalding (17. Lucias Vine 49’)
Subs not used: 12. Olly Mehew, 16. Oludayo Sonoiki
Goalscorers: None
Cards:
Jake Lee 45’, Zack Kotwica 85’
None
None

Match Gallery

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Courtesy of Alex White Photography

Post Match Team Sheet

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Courtesy of Southern Football League

Match Officials

Referee: Mark Senior
Assistant Referees: Ross Wilcox, Kevin Hoare