British Gas Business Football League

Premier Division

Saturday 14th March 2009

Early injuries frustrate Supermarine

By Ned Payne » Swindon Advertiser

Mark Collier has admitted two early injuries set back his Supermarine side in their attempts to beat Oxford City at Hunts Copse. But the Marine boss said the departures of Chris Taylor and Joe Harris did not ultimately effect Saturday’s 1-1 result. He said: “We changed the system around to accommodate things, that threw us for a little while. “It sets you back when you have got to make a few changes tactically, but in the second half we got back to grips with it and competed fairly well.

“We defended quite well as a team, we just lacked a cutting edge going forward and I think that was affected by the substitutions being used. “We weren’t at our best, but I think it was about a fair result.” Taylor limped off 10 minutes into the Southern League Premier Division clash before Alan Griffin put the hosts ahead two minutes later.

A diagonal pass from Justyn McKay found Nick Stanley on the left flank, and his centre was tapped in by Griffin from six yards out. But several minutes later Harris was experiencing back spasms, forcing Collier into a re-shuffle. Marine changed from 4-3-3 to an unfamiliar 4-4-2, with substitute Mark Draycott playing up front and natural striker Steve Cook coming off the bench into right midfield.

The home side never fully adapted to the change in the first half and minutes after the interval it was 1-1 as James Faulkner levelled. But after the goal went into Marine coped better and both sides cancelled each other out until the final whistle.