Competition

Date

Saturday 21st November 2009

Sam's the man in shock win

By Ned Payne » Swindon Advertiser

 

Sam Morris was the unlikely hero as his brace helped Swindon Supermarine stun Brackley Town 2-1 at St James Park in the Southern League Premier Division. The centre midfielder, not known for his goalscoring prowess, netted twice after the break to cancel out Tom Winters’ first-half effort and present the Hunts Copse side with three precious points.

 

The result ended Marine’s six-week wait for a league win and represented a remarkable turnaround from the last time the sides met in mid-October, when the Saints triumphed 7-1. Saturday’s victory was also the first time Marine had come from behind to win in the league this season, and saw them move out of the relegation places to 15th in the table.

 

Hunts Copse boss Mark Collier was delighted with the efforts of his side and singled out Morris, who is nicknamed Muscles, for special praise. “By his own admission, Sam should probably score more goals because he makes some fantastic runs,” said Collier. “But he scored two very good goals on Saturday and if you ask the lads what they think of Sam Morris then they will speak very highly of him. “He’s got a great teamwork ethic and he got his rewards for that yesterday.”

 

On the team’s efforts as a whole, Collier added: “It was a very, very good team performance. We ticked all the boxes.” In spite of losing Leigh Henry early on to a hamstring injury, Supermarine started the contest well and forced Brackley stopper Richard Morris into two smart stops.

 

Visiting stopper Matt Bulman also saw his fair share of action as he was forced to save efforts from Tom Winters, Ben Mackey and Mark Rawle. Seconds before the break Winters made the breakthrough, as he skipped away from two challenges and fired high into the net from distance.

But despite having to cope without Kyle Lapham in the second half after he withdrew due to an ankle problem, Marine came out with renewed purpose after the break.

 

They caught their opponents sleeping just two minutes in, when Morris found acres of space and shot past his namesake to level the scores. After Brackley had appeals for a penalty turned down following an alleged handball from Justyn McKay, Morris got his second on 72 minutes. The midfield man ran onto a cross from the left and with the home defence statuesque, slotted home with ease. Jerome Anderson missed a glorious headed opportunity late on as Marine hung on for a much-needed victory.

 

From a Brackley perspective ~ Match Report