Four different goal scorers confirmed a second successive win over a Warrington side, after Marine record a 4-1 victory at Rylands.
Much like last weeks’ victory over Warrington Town, Marine set up in with three centre backs, with debutant Kyle Hayde joining Danny Shaw and James Devine in defence. Hyde, a right sided defender, occupied a variety of positions during the course of the match, including the right of a back three, holding midfield and right wing back.
The home side started the game on top, winning the midfield battle against the tenacious duo of Alex Doyle and James Barrigan. Midway through the half, Hayde was moved into midfield in an attempt to regain the central areas of the pitch – a switch that proved profitable.
After 24 minutes, the Mariners broke the deadlock, with a devastating counterattack led by Owen Watkinson eventually resulting with Doyle firing an effort into the bottom corner. The midfielder has proven that he has an eye for goal, breaking forward on a number of occasions throughout the season, finding the back of the net for the first time since the opening day.
A head injury to Shaw caused a stoppage in play, with the centre half pouring blood and finishing the match with his head heavily wrapped.
Going into the interval, manager Neil Young will have been encouraged by his sides’ reaction to a difficult start, growing into the game as the half went on.
The visiting Mariners doubled their advantage 10 minutes into the second half, as captain Niall Cummins played the ball into the path of Neil Kengni, with Marine’s top goal scorer making no mistake with the finish. Kengni has now scored five goals this season, with Cummins assisting him for the third time in the last two games.
With a strong foothold on the game, Marine continued to push forward and began to threaten on a more consistent basis. Wing backs James Joyce and Josh Solomon-Davies provided the most potent source of attacking prowess down the flanks.
Marine’s win was all but confirmed in the 63rd minute, as Doyle’s dangerous in swinging free kick from the left-hand side of the box finding Cummins in the six-yard box, who managed to poke past Graeme McCall in Rylands’ goal.
Rylands did grab a goal back about 20 minutes from time, as Tom Freeman cut in from the right flank and bettered Bayleigh Passant at the near post.
However Marine regained their three-goal cushion with minutes to go, as the on-loan Hayde’s cross-come-shot looped over McCall into the top left corner. His goal wrapped up a solid performance for the defender.
The final whistle confirmed another big victory for Marine, who will have been keen to pick up the win with other sides at the top end of the table dropping points. Next up for Marine is a home tie against Colne on Tuesday night.
Attendance: 236
Marine line up: Passant, Solomon-Davies (McNally), Joyce, Hayde, Shaw, Devine, Watkinson (Lynch), Doyle, Cummins (Reilly), Barrigan, Kengni
