Swindon Supermarine final day survival felt like 'destiny'

Marine managed to secure their Southern League Premier South status on the final day of the season as they notched a 3-0 victory over Winchester City to take them out of the bottom four.

Having arrived with the club winless in their opening eight games of the season, Fleetwood said it felt like a massive achievement to have kept the club up.

He said: “We could maybe have done it a little bit sooner but it felt like destiny to get it done on the last day.

“We didn’t get a win until our 13th or 14th game, so when you look back at that we have missed over a quarter of the season without getting a win, so to pick up 48 points since we have come in is massive.

“I think we would have finished about eighth if the league started then, so it took a monumental effort to get it done.

“In previous seasons we would have gotten out of it pretty soon, we hit 38 points in March, but the quality of the league has been so high this year, probably the highest it has ever been.

“I am just happy for everyone at the club because it is what we came in to do and it is always nice to reach that goal and to do it on the last day, there is probably a little bit of destiny involved.”

Fleetwood added that he was pleased that he was able to get the job done without having to stray away from his principles, putting the club in a good spot for next season.

He said: “We needed a little bit of luck in the final week, but I think you create your own luck.

“Many people would have thought we should change style and go more direct and try the dark arts.

“But I didn’t want to do that because we got into that position because of the way we played football, how brave we were.

“I said to the players at the start that if we were going to go down, I wanted to go down playing our way and I think we have reaped the rewards of that.

“We have stuck to our principles as a club and I think it creates a positive mentality going into next season.”