Route-one goal stops rot for Marine (From Swindon Advertiser)

Route-one goal stops rot for Marine

8:48am Monday 4th February 2008 in

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A MOMENT which went against all Mark Collier's footballing principles saw Supermarine make it third time lucky with a 1-0 win over Hemel Hempstead Town at Hunts Copse.

Having suffered heavy defeats at the hands of Team Bath and King's Lynn in their previous two games, conceding 11 goals in the process, Ashley Edenborough's 19th-minute strike was enough to see off one of the division's high-flyers.

The young striker latched onto Marine keeper Tom King's long punt, shrugged off the challenge of Yiadom Yeboah and rifled home a left-footed half-volley for a classic route-one goal - something which is rarely seen from Marine.

In the Southern League, where most teams play a direct, physical style, Collier's side are well-known for their insistence on keeping the ball on the deck and playing attractive football.

But the manager was more than happy that a momentary change in style brought about a well-deserved change of fortunes.

"It was a route-one goal, but a quality finish and probably the only route-one play we made all day," admitted Collier.

"Tom King dealt with the back pass fantastically, and Ash has been nice and bright and alive.

"He had a problem with finishing last week, so we said to him to just put your head down, smash it and see what happens, and he did just that.

"We are very pleased because it was always going to be a difficult game against Hemel, and even more so coming on the back of two big losses.

"But we passed it well and kept a clean sheet, which we haven't done too much this season."

Apart from a couple of nervous opening moments, Supermarine dominated throughout and were well worth all three points.

Edenborough had a penalty appeal turned down in the 10th minute when he appeared to be bundled over inside the box, but he made up for that disappointment with his superb finish to break the deadlock nine minutes later.

Chris Taylor went close before half-time when he fired over from inside the six-yard box, and just after the break new signing Simon Heal failed to test Hemel keeper Sam Styles with a weak effort.

The outstanding Jason Welch could have grabbed a hat-trick inside the final half hour, but saw a header and two left-footed strikes fly over the top.

And substitute Nathan Lightbody almost got himself on the scoresheet as well, tucking the ball under Styles, but seeing it agonisingly hit the post and bounce away to safety.

Such was the home side's dominance, Hemel could have had no complaints had the result been more emphatic, and Collier admitted: "We would have been happy with an ugly 1-0 win, but we got something different.

"We've had Team Bath, King's Lynn and Hemel Hempstead, and if we'd have got three draws from that we would have been delighted.

"As it were, we've gone a different way about getting three points from it, but we're still well chuffed with the win."