Swindon Supermarie 1 Bracknell Town 2 (8th April 2023)
I have friends who love winter. I am hardly a sun-worshipper, but there’s something specially pleasant about going to your first game of the year and not thinking you need a coat.
Indeed, such was the quality of the playing surface at Swindon Supermarine that you would have been forgiven for thinking this was an August fixture, not one deep into the time when those thin black lines on the league tables are becoming really significant.
Those black lines were of importance to both sides this afternoon, with Swindon Supermarine hoping they can sneak into the play-offs, and Bracknell hoping Western-Super-Mare drop points at the top, or at very least claim home advantage in the play-offs. Had it not been for an indifferent start to the season, they could have been in the driving seat.
Over 500 would turn up for this clash in a multi-sport complex north east of Swindon, near what used to be the huge Honda factory. Rugby, bowls, even remote control car racing, took their place among many sports the complex offers, and an all-weather fabric-roofed dome dominates one end of the ground, like a Graf Zeppelin trying to hide in Swindon’s outskirts, but the football was the main attraction on this day, including a good splash of red from down the M4 in Berkshire.
Bracknell’s cup exploits, plus the odd postponement, have given Bracknell something of a fixture headache. This would be their 4th game in a spell of six games in twelve days, and maybe a hint of tiredness was beginning to show. Marine are obviously no slouches themselves, but for most of the first half, they looked the better side, with Bracknell able to create very little against their hard-working hosts. It also felt rather warmer in the spring sun that the thermometer would suggest.
Either way, while the game was even territorially, it was the hosts creating the chances. They even had a goal ruled out, when a corner was nodded back in at the far post. A foul on the keeper was the verdict though, so it stayed at 0-0. Supermarine also had a shot come back off the base of the post, with the follow up well saved, and had they gone in at the break a goal ahead, few could have had too many complaints.
Instead, they went in a goal down. Bracknell had really struggled to create anything all half, but a minute before the break a cross was curled in right footed from the left wing. It evaded all the Bracknell players, but also managed to evade everybody else too, as it curled and dipped towards to far top corner of the goal, deflecting in off the woodwork for a freak goal. The home keeper lay prostrate inside his goal, seemingly unable to believe it has gone in.
The good fortune gave Bracknell the boost they needed, as they came out with a lot more zip about them, and just a few minutes in, added a second. A nice interchange of passes saw the ball played in into the right hand side of the area, and a first time shot was hit hard across the keeper to double Bracknell’s lead.
Any thoughts that a 2-0 lead would be ‘job done’ didn’t last long, as the home side got the goal their efforts deserved, with just over half an hour left. From that point on, the game was increasingly played in the Bracknell half, as the home side, who needed to points for their own reasons, pressed for an equaliser.
For the last 10 minutes Supermarine threw the kitchen sink, and other domestic appliances too, at Bracknell, who were often reduced to just whacking the ball upfield, anywhere, to clear their lines. Bracknell did have one very good chance to seal it, when a mazy dribble in the box was just ended by a tackle before a shot could be made, but it was all about get bodies back to block and keep the ball out by any means possible. Bracknell’s keeper had a commanding game, making one great save in this spell, and getting a glove to virtually every ball put in the box.
Maybe a minute or two earlier than expected, due to the amount of stoppages, the ref blew, to the clear delight of the Bracknell players who’d had to really dig deep for this victory. A bitter blow for Supermarine though. So much effort and so little reward, beyond the appreciate applause of the home fans. Only time will tell how critical this result was for both clubs.
The least important stat is that it continues my bizarre Jekyll & Hyde run watching Bracknell, with only one home win in eleven, but with this being the sixth away win I’ve seen in eight games. If they do manage to get a home final, I’m not sure what I’ll do.
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