It's becoming apparent that Supermarine players just don't like the easy life, writes LEIGH MOORE.

A poor performance at local rivals Oxford City on Saturday saw Marine slip to just above the relegation zone, with a scrap to avoid the drop now looming.

A late second-half goal was enough to see Oxford take maximum points and prompt boss Mark Collier to hand out a few choice word to his men.

In truth it was Marine who played the better football throughout the 90 minutes.

Despite Marine's choice to play a more entertaining brand of football it very rarely troubled City keeper Matt Finlay.

Mark Draycott, who played his last game for Supermarine before his return to the United States, had an unusually below par performance and was subsequently substituted after the interval.

In fact, all three of Marine's attacking third failed to see out the full 90 which summed up the afternoon for the visitors.

JP Mills was once again the driving force in midfield but not even he could produce something special enough to secure a win.

Mills had the best chance of the first half for the visitors but his dipping shot was smothered by Finlay.

Despite a lacklustre showing from Marine going forward, the back line looked solid with the return of Roger Emms.

Steve Bennett dealt with the imposing presence of City front men, Colin Simpson and Ronnie Joe whilst Chris Copp and Ian Howell put in a strong display to ensure Oxford's wide men had a quiet afternoon.

With scrappy exchanges in the midfield and rarely any goalmouth action the game looked certain to end in a stalemate, but with just 12 minutes remaining Robin Antonovicz bundled the ball over the line after Tom King had produced two excellent reaction saves to deny Steve Jelly and then Simpson.

Despite Roger Emms and Steve Davies being pushed upfront to provide a more physical presence for the last 10 minutes, Marine failed to secure the point they so desperately sought.

In the dying seconds Marine went close to netting the equaliser but Tony Joyce saw his shot parried away by Finlay.