Winchester City 1 Marine 6

Southern League Premier South | Saturday 4th March 2023

Posted by Keith Yeomans on March 5th 2023

`Match Report from Aleck Everard`

SUPER SIX AS MARINE PLAY OFF PUSH CONTINUES

Swindon Supermarine made there second trip of the week with an away journey on Saturday as they travelled to Winchester City. With a good comeback in midweek from 2-0 down at Hendon manager Lee Spalding opted to make one alteration with Conor McDonagh coming in up top and Brad Hooper dropping to the bench as the team took on a more attacking team. And it proved to be an inspired move as Marine came flying out of the blocks to seal the win inside the first eleven minutes.

Circa 12 minutes after the toss we were winning 3-0 at Winchester
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

A Joe Tumelty defence splitting pass got James Harding behind the back line and he opened the scoring with a low drive into the bottom corner of the net past home keeper Jordi Valero Miret after five minutes. Then before the Winchester back line had time to breath Harding was in on goal again after a neat pass from Henry Spalding allowed him to get behind the defence and as he attempted to go around keeper Miret he was taken down.

A Joe Tumelty defence splitting pass got James Harding behind the back line and he opened the scoring
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

There wasn’t a yellow card for the keeper but James Harding got up and drilled the ball low into the corner for 2-0 lead after seven minutes. Four minutes later and the result was surely in the bag when a mix up in the Winchester defence saw the ball rebound off a defender into the path of Conor McDonagh who had an open goal to tap the ball in for his ninth goal of the season.

Henry Spalding neat pass set up James Harding who was brought down for a penalty
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

After this high octane start the game settled down although Marine continued to dominate possession. McDonagh got into a scuffle with Winchester’s Ollie Griggs and found himself booked on nineteen minutes before Henry Spalding had a good effort blocked by the defence after linking up well with Zack Kotwica. Kotwica followed that up with a low effort which was well held by keeper Miret just after the half hour before Joe Tumelty committed a foul on the edge of the box and received the teams second yellow carded.

Conor McDonagh ended up in the referee’s notebook after wrestling Winchester’s Ollie Griggs to the ground
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

With Marine stepping off the gas in the last twenty minutes of the half and then deep into first half injury time the home side put together a delightful series of passes that eventually fell to Warren Bentley whose volley gave Marine keeper Josh Gould no chance with as the ball nestled in the corner of the ne.

Ryan Campbell had another solid game at the back
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

Tyrone Duffus replaced the unwell Malik Sesay at the break as Winchester continued their improvement by starting strongly in the second period. Twelve minutes into the second half Tyrone Duffus rifled the ball into the back of the Winchester net to extend Marine’s lead and scorer his second goal of the season to kill off any Winchester comeback.

Malik Sesay had to come off at the break through illness
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

Marine keeper Josh Gould then did extremely well with a great double point blank save soon after before James Harding completed his hat-trick and fourteenth goal off the season after an excellent team move! Zack Kotwica and Ryan Campbell combined before Campbell’s cross was deftly headed home off the bar by Harding on fifty-seven minutes.

James Harding completed his hat-trick and fourteenth goal off the season after an excellent team move
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

Brad Hooper replaced Joe Tumelty on the hour mark and and five minutes later there was another goal for Marine. Jamie Edge whipped the ball into a crowded box and it appeared to elude everyone, although Harding was claiming a touch for his fourth goal of the game? It was hard to tell even on post match video so it was credited to Edge.

Marine keeper Josh Gould then did extremely well with a great double point blank save
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

Marine were rampant and could have scored a couple more goals in the last twenty minutes or so! With both Zack Kotwica and Conor McDonagh squandering good chances. Leon Morrison replaced Harding and played in midfield where he put in a useful twenty minutes. The final chance off the game came from Kotwica when he broke away from the home defence and with just keeper Miret to beat he pulled the ball back past a recovering defender and seemed sure to hit the back of the net and make it seven goals, but blasted his effort high and wide.

Sam Turl heads the ball clear as skipper Mat Liddiard covers
Photo courtesy of Ollie Price Photography @ollie_price2

A truly excellent team performance which extends the unbeaten league run to eleven league matches and places Marine one place outside the playoffs but with a game in hand. Next up is on Saturday when we make the long journey to Plymouth to play Plymouth Parkway.

Attendance: 247

`Line Ups`

WINCHESTER CITY
Manager: Craig Davis
Colours: Red & Black
Line-up: 1. Jordi Valero Miret 2. Callum Baughen 3. Dan King 4. Ollie Griggs (15. Luke King 58’) 5. Archie Wilcox 6. Pat Nolan 7. Max Smith 8. Jamie Barron (c) 9. Warren Bentley 10. Simba Miambo (14. Ik Hill 46’) 11. Jack Torniainen (12. Ollie Bailey 46’)
Subs not used: 16. Rob Jamison, 17. Dan Jones
Goalscorer: Warren Bentley 45+2’
Editors Star Man: Max Smith
Cards:
None Yellow Card
None Red Card
None Yellow & Red Card