Hitchin Town 0

Swindon Supermarine 1

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Cook and Griffin were recruited over the summer, from Clevedon Town and Mangotsfield United respectively, to try and cure Supermarine’s goalscoring problems. And already they look like they may be the answer as, with a little bit more composure, the duo could have put this one out of sight before half-time.

Marine boss Collier said: “Our two front men were superb – they were a threat to Hitchin all afternoon. “They both had very good games and both deserved to get on the score sheet, even though only Steve managed to. “Both lads should be very pleased with their performances. We had to take them both off in the second half because they had run themselves into the ground. “Alan was a handful all afternoon and Steve works really hard for the team. “He looks to play off the last man’s shoulder, and he’s got much more about him than to say he’s just a poacher.”

Supermarine dominated the opening exchanges, and should have broken the deadlock in the 20th minute when Griffin combined with Cook, but the latter saw his effort fly wide. Hitchin keeper Martin Bennett then pulled off a flying save to keep out Griffin’s volley as the teams turned round all square. After the break Paul Barnes forced Marine’s No 1 Matt Bulman into a decent stop while, at the other end, Cook had an effort cleared off the line. But the visitors finally opened the scoring in the 73rd minute. Kyle Lapham’s ball down the right found Griffin, and the his cross-shot across the face of goal was turned home by Cook from inside the six-yard box. It was no more than Marine deserved, although Danny Allen’s red card after the final whistle for foul and abusive language left a sour taste in the mouth.

From a Hitchin perspective...click the following link Hitchin Town v Marine