Competition

Date

Saturday 31st October 2009

Collier positive despite Hemel defeat

By Sam Morshead » Swindon Advertiser

 

Swindon Supermarine boss Mark Collier remained in a positive frame of mind despite his side’s 3-1 defeat to Hemel Hempstead in the Southern League on Saturday. Marine missed an opportunity to take points off fellow strugglers Hemel but Collier was happy with the majority of the performance from his charges. “”It was a disappointing result but I refuse to be down heartened,” said Collier after the game. “It was a very encouraging performance and we certainly did enough to get something from the match.”

 

 

Defensive lapses allowed Ryan Blake and Clark Akers to put the Tudors two goals to the good before half time. And Collier was left to rue an absence of good fortune for his team as, despite pulling a goal back through Joe Harris, Marine conceded a third late on as they pursued an equaliser. “When you’re on a run like we are on at the moment things tend to go against you,” said Collier. “Two of the goals were both fairly sloppy and of our own making. “We’ve given away possession carelessly for one and, for their penalty, Kyle Lapham made an incorrect decision with his marking. “After that we were left chasing the game.”

 

Nevertheless, the Hunts Copse chief saw plenty of pluses to Marine’s display, especially in a period of instability for the club. “We have a very young set of players and a lot of them were very disappointed in the dressing room afterwards,” he said. “But it was a committed showing against a very experienced side and our performance levels were much, much higher.”

 

Hemel’s old heads made the difference in the encounter and Collier confessed that Marine’s fragile finances, limiting their potential to sign experience, could have a strong bearing on their destiny this term. “I was talking to their chairman and he was saying that they have had their budget cut recently but I’d still love to have the budget he’s got to work with now. “But that’s not the case. Unfortunately we don’t have the option to sign the experienced heads because they cost money. We will continue to sign youngsters.

 

“They had four or five new signings in their side since the last time we played them and got Danny Granville (former Chelsea player) just before the game. “All credit to the lads though. They kept playing and they kept passing, it was just another similar story “It was a learning experience, and hopefully we will learn sooner rather than later.”

 

Collier will be keen to revive his players’ dampened spirits as he continues to lead them in search of Southern League safety. The loss leaves Marine lingering in 19th in the league table, whilst their conquerors climbed to 15th in a congested bottom half. And Collier’s principle responsibility in the coming days will be to reinvigorate his troops ahead of next week’s clash with Bedford Town. The tie is another early-season six-pointer, with Bedford finding life in the Southern League a little difficult this campaign. But Collier is convinced that his youthful squad have the ability and belief to secure a comfortable spot in mid-table. We need to take our medicine, keep working hard and just keep on playing,” the Marine manager said.

 

From a Hemel perspective ~  

STAY AWAY FANS MISS HALLOWEEN TREAT
In front of a small turnout, Hemel produced a gritty display to earn a much needed win against fellow strugglers Swindon. It was the visitors who had most of the possession in the first half, with the majority of the play inside Hemel’s half of the pitch. But despite this Hemel keeper Michael McEntergart didn’t have a save to make as Swindon failed to find a telling pass, and the home defence for a change stood solidly firm. Hemel too found it difficult at first to make any inroads on the break, but by the time Ryan Blake finished off James Hatch’s inside pass on twenty five minutes to give them the lead, the Tudors had already had a goal disallowed for a dubious offside, and Leon Solomon had missed by inches with his twenty five yard effort.

Hemel’s second came on the half hour when Clark Akers converted from the penalty spot after Hatch had been tripped at the far post by Kyle Lapham - Hatch later denied a goal for himself by a great last ditch tackle by Matthew Robinson as the half wound down. Supermarine’s only worthwhile move came on forty minutes as Mark Barnes wasted a good opening at the far post to blast over the bar, but Hemel in the end always looked the more dangerous going forward and were worth their lead at the break.

H/T 2-0
The second half started brightly for Hemel as they attacked uphill, and good half chances came and went for Jamie Eames and Ben Long, before Leigh Henry’s diving header forced McEntergart into his first necessary stop on seventy minutes. But Swindon finally got back into the game on seventy six minutes, when defender Yiadom Yeboah dwelt on an easy clearance up field and was robbed by Joe Harris, who finished smartly across McEntergart and into the far corner.

This started a period of pressure by the visitors who at last stepped up from a pretty poor second half showing, but still Supermarine failed to supply their front men with viable openings, and despite a few moments of concern for the home crowd, Hemel still looked comfortable on their lead.

The points were finally wrapped up with seven minutes to go, when substitute Adam Bernard chased a long clearance from McEntergart, and set up Akers who skipped past two challenges before burying a fierce swerving shot past keeper Matt Bulman from twenty five yards. There was still time for Eames to crash a long range shot against Bulman’s bar on eighty eight minutes, and the somewhat harassed looking keeper did well to get up off the ground fast and block Blake’s follow up with his legs.

 

As the game entered injury time Swindon produced their best move of the match - which ended with Henry blasting a volley over the bar - but three vital points then for the Tudors, who leap above Supermarine and out of the relegation places ahead of next Saturday‘s six pointer road trip to another fellow struggler, Clevedon Town.