MARK Collier heaped praise on two-goal Sam Morris after the midfielder stepped out of the shadows to gun down struggling Halesowen tonight.

Morris was one of the forgotten men during Marine’s FA Cup heroics and was left to warm the bench in the second-round tie at Colchester, but the recent departures of Chris Allen and Chris Taylor has meant a recall and he responded with a brace in last night’s 3-0 win over the Yeltz.

Steve Cook had already missed a good chance in the opening seconds when Morris opened his account on four minutes after collecting a pass from Nick Stanley.

Morris returned the favour five minutes before the interval and Stanley duly slammed in the second with an angled drive.

Morris then completed the scoring on the hour, finishing off a fine seven-man move, much to the delight of boss Collier.

“Sam’s playing wide right at the moment which isn’t his natural position but he has done well,” said the manager.

“He always gets himself into good positions and gets a lot of chances. He doesn’t always take them but he did tonight to be fair and he’s done a very good job for us.

“I know Halesowen are going through a difficult time at the moment but it’s still a good win.

“We’ve dominated possession and it’s another clean sheet which is great.”

The victory lifts Marine above local rivals Chippenham, just a place outside the Southern Premier play-offs with games still in hand.