SWINDON Supermarine endured a sobering Bank Holiday weekend courtesy of an 8-0 aggregate defeat in Southern League Premier South.
Lee Spalding’s men were thumped 5-0 by Bracknell Town on Saturday before losing 3-0 at home to Merthyr Town on Monday.
The pair of defeats maintained Marine’s winless start to the season – having scored six and conceded 24 from their opening half a dozen matches.
Saturday’s trip to Bracknell began poorly for Supermarine as Joe Grant netted the first of two via a back-post header within the first 15 minutes.
Former Dulwich Hamlet man Nana Owusu blasted a free-kick home from 25 yards prior to the half-time interval, and Grant scored his 100th goal for the club midway through the second half to make it 3-0.
With Marine desperately hoping for the full-time whistle to put an end to their suffering, Kameron English struck two superb goals late on. The first was plundered into the top corner from long range while the second finished in the same spot but was curled home from just inside the penalty area.
In Monday’s clash with table-topping Merthyr, Marine once again made a terrible start as Tom Handley found the corner in just the fourth minute.
New signing Louis Evans pulled off a couple of brilliant saves to temporarily maintain the 1-0 scoreline, and he was almost beaten again in the 20th minute – only to parry a Noah Smerdon header against the bar and out.
But Merthyr’s second goal did indeed arrive in the 21st minute when Olly Mehew thumped past Evans from the edge of the box.
A bad start turned into a terrible one moments later after Leon Morrison fouled Ricardo Rees in the area, and the Merthyr striker picked himself up to slot the penalty away.
Spalding’s men recalibrated after half-time, though, and managed to avoid further punishment until the full-time whistle.
The only event of note arrived when the Welsh club saw Callum Ryan-Phillips sent off for a second yellow card inside stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Royal Wootton Bassett Town moved up to second in the Hellenic League Premier Division – despite a derby defeat to Highworth Town on Monday.
Connor Waldon netted Bassett’s winner in a 1-0 victory over Hereford Pegasus on Saturday, but the striker was powerless to prevent Josh Davis’ netting the only goal of the game on Monday.
The Worthians enjoyed a double-win weekend after beating Sandhurst Town 4-2 in the FA Vase on Saturday. Two goals from Rhys Wells – combined with solo strikes from Steve Robertson and Xavi Diaz – booked Highworth’s spot in the next round.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here