British Gas Business Football League

Premier Division

Saturday 21.02.2009

They did their homework

Mark Collier insisted Supermarine could have “no complaints” as they suffered only their second away league defeat of the season, going down 1-0 at Evesham United. Anthony Robinson’s goal in the 51st minute sealed all three points for the Robins against a lacklustre Marine side, who had an afternoon to forget at St Georges Lane. Collier admitted his side failed to get going for large parts of the contest and insisted Evesham were well worthy of the victory as they stifled the visitors’ passing game. “It was a disappointing result,” said the manager. “We didn’t really get started, lacked any spark and were off the pace a little.

“It was difficult to get into the game, and for the first hour we were well below the standards we set ourselves. Only in the last 20 minutes did we look like doing anything. “The recent lay-off because of the weather probably hasn’t done us any favours, and although we played a cup match in midweek against Andover, we weren’t really tested. 

“Evesham were very well organised and have got a lot more experience than us. The average age of their squad must be about 28 or 29 -ours is 21 or 22. “But they did their homework on us and spoiled our game with a physical approach, which they were more than entitled to do.

“They played a completely different way to when I watched them last weekend, and it’s a way of playing that we need to overcome when we are up against it.” The defeat leaves Marine 12th in the Southern League Premier Division, a far cry from a month ago where they were just a couple of points away from the top.

However, with up to five games in hand over some of their rivals, the boss is far from concerned about the look of the table just yet. “The important table is when there’s four or five games remaining, not when you’re halfway through the season like we are. “We had a great first half of the season but there’s still a lot of games and a lot of football to be played. So we’ll take another look and reassess the situation in a month’s time.

“We’ve spoken to the players because we expect better from them. But they know that already. “It’s disappointing, but we’ll lick our wounds and get on with it and try to bounce back on Wednesday night in the cup.”