ASH Edenborough and Chris Taylor signed for Hungerford and then revealed they had always felt there was little chance of the Swindon Supermarine squad staying together.

The duo - expected to be followed to Bulpit Lane by striker Josh Parsons - decided to move on after playing key roles in a season in which Marine made the Southern League Division One South & West play-offs.

With 26 league goals last term, forward Edenborough’s impact was obvious, while Taylor was a hugely creative influence in midfield after returning from a career-threatening injury while at Maidenhead.

Edenborough, who barring the 2010/11 season has been at the Webb’s Wood Stadium since 2007, was keen to tie up a deal quickly and was unsure what personnel Marine would have on board for the new campaign.

“Hungerford are in a higher league and financially it works out as a good package for myself,” he said.

“If we had kept everyone together then I might have been wanting to stay, but there has been interest in Tails (Chris Taylor), Josh (Parsons), myself and Bamps (Dave Bampton).

“Ideally if we had kept everyone together and added to it, then we would have been pushing to win the league.

“But when I spoke to Webby (boss Dave Webb), he wasn’t sure what was going on with players and in the meantime Bobby (Wilkinson, Hungerford manager) was in contact. By the time I heard back from Marine I had already negotiated with Hungerford.

“I’ve got a lot of time and respect for the people at Marine and I enjoyed it there, but this is a decision I’ve made and I hope it works out well for me.”

For Taylor, the appeal of the Berkshire side came down to similar reasons.

“Being able to play a better standard of football is the main thing and they are ambitious to go up again,” he said.

“It was a hard decision because I did enjoy it at Marine, but I knew we were probably going to lose three or four players including the two strikers. They got 50 goals between them and you’re not going to be able to take that.

“It’s frustrating because we had a good team and with a few more players we would have had a good chance at going up, but I’m at Hungerford now and they are obviously looking to kick on and challenge.”

Meanwhile, nine players have committed their futures to Marine after signing on for the 2013/14 campaign.

Craig Curtis, Jon Steedman, Mani Randhawa, Jordan Roberts, Dan Hilder, Ben Whitehead, Harry Etheridge, Jamie Prictor and Josh Fowler will all remain at the Webb’s Wood Stadium.

Boss Webb is still waiting to speak to defenders Kyle Lapham and Danny Allen and midfielder Rob Dean regarding their plans.