Winchester City 1 Marine 0

Match Report from Pete Crockett

WINCHESTER WIN A SCRAPPY MATCH

This was not a footballing classic that will live long in the memory. For large chunks of the game defences were dominant, much of the scrapping for possession was in midfield, both teams retention of the ball was not great, and efforts on goal were rare.

Marine started positively and around the quarter of an hour mark Harry Williams wriggled free of his marker and advanced towards the penalty area only to be scythed from behind. The referee deemed the incident to be outside the box and declined to issue a red card for what seemed to many to be a clear deprivation of a goal scoring opportunity with only the keeper to beat. The resultant free kick saw Michael Fernandes having to clear a defensive wall where players feet were on the penalty spot for a kick two or three yards inside the penalty arc. Some extra Maths homework for the referee seems in order.

For most of the first half Supermarine had the greater possession, but Winchester posed the greater goal threat. Of the two keepers the visitor’s Fiachra Pagel was the busier making saves from the hosts Trevor Caborn, Tommy Wright, Max Smith and IK Hill. Two of the saves were particularly impressive with the one from Trevor Caborn seeing the keeper dive to his left to push a well struck shot wide of the post.

In the second half the Marine keeper made an excellent close range save from a George Britton header. Meanwhile the host’s keeper, Luke Cairney, made an outstanding save from Michael Fernandes curling fifteen-yard effort that looked destined for the bottom far corner of the net. The match seemed destined for a point a piece until in the 88th minute IK HILL’S low effort beat the dive of the Marine keeper although he got a hand to the shot.

For Winchester this will result will be a relief. The Citizen’s home record prior to this match had been abject with them having one of the poorest home records in the league. Players who caught the eye for them included IK Hill and Trevor Caborn on the flanks and their centre backs who defended resolutely.

From a Marine perspective there were positives in the team’s defensive solidity with Jake Lee, Ioan Richards, and Nick Peare all putting in good displays. Keeper Fiachra Pagel also made several good saves to keep Marine in the game. Jamie Edge was assured in front of the defensive line. Marine can justifiably consider themselves unlucky to lose Jamie Edge and Nick Peare to injuries late in the game.

If there was a concern it was that in an attacking sense Marine looked a little laboured. At times Marine seemed shot shy; striker Harry Williams thrives on balls played into that corridor of uncertainty across the face of the goal - he had a Pauper’s supper in terms of such service; and at other times, and aligned to the previous point, wide players too often ran into the heavy traffic of a packed penalty area rather than looking to get behind their defensive line. Attacking play is so often an area of strength for Marine this was not one of those days.

An interesting statistic is that all of Marine’s away league points have been achieved on grass surfaces. Marine have lost all five matches they have played this season on non-grass surfaces. Coincidence or something to work on? Listening to a recent commentary ex-England striker Chris Sutton commented on the adjustments Celtic had to make to the new generation of artificial surfaces. In general the ball runs on them less slickly; they bounce lower; and they are much more conducive to a long ball game than the earlier iterations of artificial turf. None of this suits a Marine side who like to pass crisply to feet.

Winchester Star Man: Trevor Caborn
Marine Star Man: Fiachra Pagel
Attendance: 318

Line Ups

WINCHESTER CITY
Manager: Craig Davis
Colours: Red & Black
Line-up: 1. Luke Cairney 2. Dan Bradshaw 3. Josh McCormick 4. Max Smith 5. Callum Berkley 6. Alex Wilkie 7. George Britton (16. Simba Mlambo 69’) 8. Jamie Barron (c) (15. Oliver Giggs 82’) 9. Tommy Wright (17. Jahiem Dotse 63’) 10. Trevor Caborn (14. Dan King 88’) 11. IK Hill (17. Robert Jamison 88’)
Subs Not Used: None
Goalscorers: IK Hill 88’
Cards:
Josh McCormick 17’, Callum Buckley 22’
None
None

SWINDON SUPERMARINE
Head Coach: Stuart Fleetwood
Colours: All Yellow
Line-up: 1. Fiachra Pagel 2. Sam Turl 3. Liban Ibrahim (15.Ryan Campbell 63’) 4. Jake Lee 5.Ioan Richards 6. Jamie Edge (12.Zack Kotwica 78’) 7. Anton Dworzak (14.Gabriel Reivers 88’) 20. Nick Peare (16.Liam Angel 69’) 9. Harry Williams 10. Michael Fernandes 11. Olly Mehew (17.Lucias Vine 83’)
Subs not used: None
Goalscorers: None
Cards:
None
None
None

Match Gallery

Click here
Courtesy of Alex White Photography

Post Match Team Sheet

Click here
Courtesy of Southern Football League

Match Officials

Referee: Shawn Barclay
Assistant Referees: Matthew Funnell, Bruce Waymark