Marine had the luxury of a second home game at College Road this Wednesday evening, in the West Cheshire League Division, against newly promoted Southport Trinity FC.

The game kicked off on time at 6.30pm after the initial worry of a delay due to the Marine pitch being used as a landing strip for the Northwest Air ambulance, due to a serious road accident right outside the ground.

The game started with Marine in a much more positive frame of mind than the fist half of the previous game. The whole team looked more settled and less nervous. Marine started well and the defense marshaled by Duff and Shinks played a high line which squeezed the play into the Southport half, the work rate of the two forwards Jones and Brown was excellent with both working hard to close the Southport back four down at every opportunity. The midfield 4 worked tirelessly with Cross and Rafferty snapping into every tackle in the middle, with McGrail and Francis causing problems down both wings. Pye in the Marine goal had not been troubled up to no, but his concentration and kicking had been excellent in this first period. The first 20 minutes saw the ball in the air for a majority of this time, however Marine started to get it down and string some good passing together, from one of these moves, Marine got their reward, a clever interchange of passes down the right, saw the ball fall to Jones just inside the box, his smart finish saw the ball nestle in the far right corner of the net. Marine 1, Southport Trinity 0. This gave Marine further confidence and the whole team were working well together as a unit. Marine had found some rhythm and tried to keep the ball down and played some attractive Football. Another neat move from the Marine right saw Ferguson and McGrail link nicely with the resulting cross being dropped at the far post by the Southport Keeper, Francis who had carried on his run from the left, found himself in the right place on the edge of the six yard box to slot the ball home for Marine's second.

Half time Marine Reserves 2 Southport Trinity 0

The second half saw both teams start with out any changes. Southport came out trying to push Marine back and get the one goal that could get them back in the game, they were making some head way and had the ball in the box early on in this half, Pye dealt with this early threat in a confident manor plucking the ball out of the air on more than one occasion. Marine held fast, keeping there shape and the work rate at a high tempo. They pressed at every opportunity and matched Southport in every area. This half was fairly evenly matched as both teams tried to work openings at either end. The first change for Marine came on 65 mins, when Shaun Jones came on for his home debut to replace McGrail on the right side of midfield. Southport pushed an extra man up front in the last 20 mins to try and force a goal, but the marine defense worked tirelessly with Clarke doing well to snuff out the threat from the Southport Right. Marines second and third changes came with 10 minutes remaining, Walsh replaced the tired Francis on the left side of midfield while McGowan replaced Brown who had worked hard all game up front for Marine. Marine moved to a five man midfield to hold Southport back and see out the game. Southport rallied in the last 10 mins and forced a serious of corners, Marines defense held strong and dealt with everything that was thrown at them. Southport nearly grabbed a consolation near the end when a close range header came of the bar and bounced down into the six yard box, but Ferguson reacted quickly to clear the danger. Pye was called into action one more time to keep the clean sheet with a fine diving stop to his right hand side from a strong effort from the Southport forward.

An excellent performance from Marine and a good win that will give the young side confidence going into the next game.

Marine Reserves.

Dean Pye, Alex Clarke, Anthony Shinks, Liam Duff, Phil Ferguson, Gaz Rafferty (captain) John Cross, Lewis Francis (Walsh 80 Mins) Anthony McGrail (Shaun Jones 65 Mins) Mike Brown (Ronnie McGowan 80 Mins) Gary Jones.

Substitutes, Paul Walsh, Ross Devine, Shaun Jones, Ronnie McGowan, Paul Gavin, Thomas Scoff (GK)