Match Report: Marske United 2 Marine 4

Marske manager Graeme Lee had a number of defensive players missing from the squad with Kev Burgess still injured, and Camron Gbadebo and Aaron Cunningham both unavailable due to illness.

Matters got worse for Marske in the warm up when Jake Hackett pulled up injured and had to be replaced by Nathan Dale, leaving only 4 players on the bench.

This also necessitated a number of positional changes with Nathan Dale coming into the side as one of the three centre backs, Dan Myers moved from the left hand centre back to left wing back and Curtis Round moved from left wing back to attacking central midfield, the role ear-marked for Hackett.

The game got off to a frenetic start with 5 goals in the opening 20 minutes. The first chance fell to the home side on 2 minutes when a long ball found Nathan Thomas who controlled the ball well and cut inside but his shot lacked power and drew an easy save from Felix Goddard.

With the clock showing 5 minutes Marske took the lead when Ben Beals made a good challenge in the centre of the pitch and Myers flicked the ball on to Adam Boyes who expertly finished past Goddard.

However, the lead lasted less than a minute; Jaan Yaqub made a good save from Will Russ but could only push the ball into the path of Finlay Sinclair-Smith, who made no mistake. With the clock showing just 10 minutes it was 2-1 to Marine when a long ball forward saw Sol Solomon easily get in-between Josh MacDonald and Dale and he finished well, lifting the ball over the advancing Yaqub.

On 13 minutes, Marske were awarded a free kick 30 yards from goal following a handball.

Thomas stepped up to take the resulting free kick, which was well hit but wide of the target.

Marske drew level on 20 minutes and thanks to a moment of comedy; Round hooked the ball forward and Goddard, 25 yards from his goal, misjudged the bounce and the ball went over his head. Boyes who gave the keeper a three yard head start raced around Goddard who tried to bring him down but the Marske striker did enough to force the ball home from about 1 yard out.

On 17 minutes, referee Macauley Gibson awarded Marine a free kick following a foul by Dale, who was booked for the offence. Marske were made to pay as the free kick was delivered into the area and the unmarked Louis White headed the ball into the net; Yaqub got hands to the ball but was unable to keep it out.

It was an end to end game and despite going behind, Marske were on the front foot trying to find an equaliser. Firstly, an excellent volley on the turn from Thomas drew a fine save from Goddard before Marske came perilously close to equalising from the resulting corner, which Cornish delivered to the back post where Myers saw his header hit the outside of the post.

Round then tried his luck but his shot was deflected by Willem Tomlinson meaning Goddard had an easy save. At the other end, Beals was cautioned for a foul on Sinclair-Smith and minutes later the diminutive winger fired a shot high over the bar.

On 39 minutes, a quick free kick from Thomas freed Cornish on the right, who flashed the ball across goal with no Marske player able to get a touch. Marske had a lucky escape on 43 minutes when a mis-kick from Dale allowed a chance for White, who fired over the bar.

Half Time: Marske 2 Marine 3

The away side were forced into a change at the start of the second half with goalkeeper Goddard unable to continue and he was replaced by Richard Cowderoy.

In truth, the second half was something of a non-event with Marine content to sit on their lead and Marske unable to create anything clear cut.

In an attempt to find an equaliser, a change was made on 63 minutes with Dale replaced by Eddie Church as Marske switched to a 4-3-1-2 formation with Round at left back, MacDonald at right back and Thomas, Boyes and Church as the three attackers.

Church was immediately in the action pulling the ball back to Thomas, who saw his shot take a slight deflection and agonisingly go just wide. With 15 minutes left, and on a rare foray forward for Marine, Sinclair-Smith shot high over the bar before Marske came so close to an equaliser on 79 minutes.

Church did superbly to beat Kyle Hayde on the right, who tried but failed to foul him, and race into the box where he curled an effort that looked destined for the top corner until Cowderoy, who had previously looked nervy, superbly clawed the ball away for a corner.

Two minutes later, Myers set up Boyes, who delivered a superb cross to Church, who volleyed just wide.

Marske made a second change on 83 minutes with Donald Chimalilo replacing Thomas but before the winger had a chance to make an impact it was 4-2 when Sinclair-Smith crossed to Solomon, who smuggled the ball home at the near post.

In the aftermath of the goal, Michael Carberry should have seen red for kicking out at Cornish, but it was missed by the officials, who only saw the pushing and shoving that ensued leading to a yellow card apiece.

Full Time: Marske 2 Marine 4

Teams:

Marske: Yaqub, MacDonald, Round, Leech, Myers, Beals, Thomas (Chimalilo), Kennedy, Boyes, Dale (Church), Cornish

Subs (not used): O’Neill, Clark

Marine: Goddard (Cowderoy), Ferguson, Carberry, Lussey, Doyle, Tomlinson (Jones), Sinclair-Smith, White, Russ, Solomon (Osei), Hayde

Sub (not used): Mampala

Math Report by Mark Hathaway, Photo Janette Ruddock