Competition

Date

Saturday April 3rd 2010

One more win needed?

By Sam Morshead » Swindon Advertiser

 

After Saturday’s vital 3-2 victory over Clevedon Town at Hunts Copse, the Marine boss revealed he believes 40 points may well be the magic number required to ward off relegation. And Collier praised his threadbare squad for the way in which they have ground out results over the course of the last month in the pursuit of safety.

 

“We need another three or four points to be certain of staying up, so there’s a bit more hard work to be done,” he said. “Credit has got to go to the players. They have had and kept a positive attitude throughout and it has paid off. “It would have been easy for them to feel sorry for themselves earlier in the season, but they’ve just gone and got on with it. "We’ve had the same 20 players rotating throughout the year but they’ve done superbly.”

 

Luke Hopper’s hat-trick helped see off a resolute performance from visiting Clevedon on Saturday, as the guests twice responded to falling behind to equalise before succumbing to Hopper’s fifth goal in three games in the 68th minute. The in-form striker, who was commended by Collier for another impressive personal display, fired the hosts in front within the opening 10 minutes. Cutting in from the left flank, Hopper’s cross-shot cannoned into the back of the net off the far post, catching Clevedon off-guard.

 

After Marine struck an upright via a set-piece five minutes later, Clevedon pulled themselves level when Chris Hartland latched onto Craig Loxton’s long ball to drive to the by-line and cross for the onrushing Loxton to slot home.

 

The game seemed destined to go into half time with neither side in the ascendancy, but Marine notched a crucial second in the moments before the interval to take the momentum into the break. Hopper seized on a loose ball following a poorly-cleared corner to fire home.

 

In the second period, Clevedon worked hard to restore parity and did so when Nana Baah played in Joey Evans on the right wing who cut inside and beat the diving Matt Bulman in the Marine goal on 57 minutes. The hosts refused to be downbeat, however, and with a quarter of the game remaining Hopper seized on the rebound from Chris Taylor’s original header to complete his three-goal haul and leave Collier smiling.

 

“It was three massive points for us,” said the Hunts Copse chief. “For us to have found a way to get that win was very, very pleasing and it shows the character and belief of the team which has been there for the last month. “The pitch was heavy and the game wasn’t the most attractive you’ve ever seen but we did what we had to do which was great to see.”

 

From a Clevedon perspective...

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