Marine U7s 2, Fleetwood Juniors U7s 1

THE Gaffer put the jinx on our Jack. Moments after she made her 2008 debut on the touchline (together with her fairweather friends Emily and Paddy), Jack was substituted.

Thankfully, he came back on a few minutes later to bolster the defence as the mini Mariners won in the spring sunshine.

Jack enjoyed the victory over Fleetwood who had deservedly dumped Marine out of the cup seven days earlier.

However, a bit of cockiness crept in culminating in some of the Fleetwood players chanting 'You're crap!' before the kick-off.

Just the incentive our lads needed. Nice one. Thanks.

Marine U7s 2, Fleetwood Juniors 1

MARINE finished their campaign in fine style to gain revenge over their cup conquerors from last week, Fleetwood Juniors, with a performance that was a week too late.

A more determined Marine started the game well and worked hard to close down Fleetwood quickly. To Fleetwood’s credit they didn’t allow Marine much time either which meant there wasn’t going to be many chances in the early part of the game.

Marine began to dominate possession and tried to use their wide players as much as possible on a tight pitch.

Kieron Thornton did well down the left to get his crosses in and, despite creating a few chances, the Marine frontline lacked the clinical finishing they have shown throughout the season to get their just rewards.

The half finished goalless with Marine still in the ascendancy but with no goals to show for it there was an air of déjà vu from last week's encounter.

The second half began as the first had finished, with Marine pressing forward in search of the vital first goal.

It wasn’t too long before the mini Mariners were celebrating with a rather scrappy goal with Tom Flannery showing the killer touch lacking in the first half and with great determination he slammed the ball in from close range despite being surrounded by the Fleetwood defence.

The relief was evident from the players and sadly, they took their foot of the pedal for a period and allowed Fleetwood chances to break forward.

The sense of déjà vu returned when Fleetwood managed to get back into the game with a goal that was strikingly similar to last week’s goal.

After a couple of well taken corners the Marine defence lost its composure and with another corner put right on the spot a cruel deflection saw the ball cross the line in what looked like slow motion as the defence looked on.

Credit to Marine, they raised their game again in search of the winner and with just over 5 minutes remaining, MOM, Kieron Thornton capped a great game with a strike to give Marine the winning lead.

Fleetwood tried to get back on terms again but a very solid Andrew Begbie and Jack Harvey in defence made sure the Marine goal was never troubled and Marine saw out the game to gain small consolation after last weeks result.

Marine thoroughly deserved the win and the final scoreline was not a true reflection of the game with it slightly flattering Fleetwood’s performance.

There were some great performances all over the pitch for Marine with all of the boys showing more determination and willingness to work, which was their downfall last week.

Kieron Thornton made some great runs down the left, but the more pleasing aspect of his game was his effort in getting the ball back and hustling the Fleetwood defence into making mistakes. Well done to all the squad. Colin Begbie

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