Long live the King (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Long live the King

Supermarine's Matt Pratley celebrates his wonder strike that opened the scoring against Clevedon Ref: 99135-88A 2-2 DRAW with Clevedon would usually be considered a decent result but Supermarine boss Mark Collier was bitterly disappointed.

In-form Marine led 2-0 seconds before half-time in the Southern One West clash before the visitors were awarded a pivotal penalty.

The equaliser followed early in the second half and goalkeeper Tom King was culpable for both, adding to his recent error count.

The hosts' confidence continued to grow early on after Matt Pratley put them ahead in style.

The forward hit a stunning angled volley from the edge of the box into the top corner on 19 minutes.

The lead was doubled seven minutes later when Steve Davies cushioned Ian Howell's pass into the path of Dave Slattery who made no mistake from close range.

But Clevedon were awarded that crucial penalty just before the break when King upended Pack Pitcher and was lucky to escape with just a booking.

Kai Holly made no mistake from 12 yards. Game on.

King handed the away side an equaliser on 58 minutes, flapping at a high ball to allow Steve Lester a free shot on goal.

Marine boss Mark Collier admitted that King's mistakes had proved costly but backed the custodian to bounce back.

He said: "Tom is fully aware that he needs to cut the errors out.

"He's made some bad decisions today but he's still a good goalkeeper he's proved that and was outstanding for us last season."

"We're disappointed with the result but that shows you how far we've come. The lads are all down in the dumps in the changing room after drawing with Clevedon who came here with all their big guns.

"I spoke to their centre-half Billy Clark after the game and he said it was the best they've played all season."

n CHIPPENHAM recorded their sixth straight win over Cirencester to stem the panic at Hardenhuish Park.

Sorry defeats on the road at Team Bath and Mertyhr prompted rumblings of discontent on the terraces.

But Bluebirds boss Darren Perrin's threat to bring in fresh blood had the desired effect on his current players as they saw off the Centurions 2-0 in the Southern Premier.

James Constable's habit of scoring against his former club proved decisive.

The forward, who netted against Ciren while playing for Swindon pre-season, repeated the trick to open the scoring on 26 minutes.

Constable's glancing header from Ian Herring's corner crossed the line despite the best efforts of Marc Richards to clear.

Herring had a free-kick scrambled off the line while Nick Stanley dragged a shot wide and Craig Fullam failed to bury a close-range header at the other end.

Ciren's fate was sealed midway through the second period with Constable playing a big part again.

His cross-shot was going wide but Adi Viveash turned the wayward effort past his own keeper to make it 2-0.