SUPERMARINE maintained their push for third spot in Dorset & Wilts 1 North with a comprehensive 36-12 victory over Avonvale on Saturday.

With Pewsey Vale keeping up hot pursuit of Marine a win was a must for John Godsell’s side, and they responded with a composed all-round display to see off an improving Avonvale outfit.

Player-coach Sean Millwaters was delighted with the effort, as his teammates kept their discipline and avoided a complacency that has been an unwelcome part of their game on occasion this term.

“It was one of those days where everyone played well and everything worked well,” he said.

“If you asked me to single out one player who played particularly well I couldn’t because everyone played well.

“The really pleasing part of it was that we kept going even when we were up at half-time.

“We have let teams back into the game sometimes this season, but this time we didn’t let up.

“Avonvale were much better than they were earlier in the season and you could see why they have been getting good results, but honestly they never looked like getting back into the game.”

Simon Mawer, Robin Smith and George Lee all touched down before the break to seemingly put Avonvale out of sight, whilst Pete Mabbott added two more tries to his season’s haul late on to help Marine to a winning bonus point.

And there was a further plus for the hosts, as Jim McDonald stepped in to Millwaters’ kicking boots to register a penalty and four conversions.

Having temporarily relinquished kicking duties due to a minor calf strain, Millwaters was impressed by his deputy.

“He has come in and played very well for us and it is always good to have someone like that there to do a job for us,” he said.

“We were 10-0 up after five minutes or so and really that was them out of the game.”

The maximum return from the clash ensured Marine kept their nose ahead of Pewsey in the league standings and, with one game remaining, third place has become a distinct possibility for Godsell’s vastly improved side.

But that final fixture pairs Marine with second-placed Chippenham 2nds, who have enjoyed a rich vein of form themselves in recent weeks.

And with a win and nothing but a win essential for Millwaters & Co, the half-back knows he and the rest of the Marine squad will have to find top gear against their high-flying hosts.

Regardless of the result, however, Millwaters is adamant Marine have shown enough over the course of the past six months to claim the favourites tag for Dorset & Wilts 1 North come next term.

“It is going to be a good quality league next year, and there are a lot of teams improving, but if we can play like that we will be hard to beat,” he said.

“We are playing some really good rugby at the moment and it’s all coming together.”

In the meantime South Marston is a happy place to be from a rugby point of view, and Millwaters revealed even stone-faced coach Godsell is starting to smirk.

“At the end of the game Godsell even managed a smile, which is something of a rarity,” he said.

“It was a good game of rugby, a good performance and really pleasing.”

Elsewhere in Dorset & Wilts 1 North, Cricklade were thumped 109-7 at Pewsey while Fairford lost 29-0 at home to Calne.