SWINDON Supermarine maintained their promotion challenge with a win over Hartley Wintney by the odd goal in five.

The Row started with two returning strikers to the club Sam Argent and Mitch Parker playing up front It was Hartley who started the better and on three minutes Tom Bird on the left overlap sent over a cross which just drifted over the crossbar.

Bird was again a provider on eight minutes when his cross found the head of Sam Argent who drew a good save from Marine goalkeeper Martin Horsell before the ball was scrambled clear.

Marine came into the game with a constant threat being overlapping runs by their full backs.

On 15 minutes, Henry Spalding fed in Harry Williams and Row goalkeeper Luke Williams pulled off a good save.

Two minutes later Henry Spalding fed the overlapping Louis Spalding. The cross found Ryan Campbell who brought out a good save from Williams.

Marine maintained their edge and took the lead on 19 minutes with a goal gift wrapped by the Row. Loose play in midfield culminating in an unforced error allowed Henry Spalding to gain possession and his through ball to Harry Williams saw the striker run on and shoot past Luke Williams for the opening goal.

On 26 minutes a free-kick on the right from Henry Spalding found the head of Matthew Williams who headed over.

On 34 minutes loose play by the Row allowed Harry Williams a run in on goal. However this time Row goalkeeper Luke Williams was able to deflect the ball wide.

A minute later, the Marine got behind the Hartley defence and managed to put the ball into the net. However the Row were relieved to see the offside flag go up to cut the celebrations short.

The second period started slowly before Williams got behind the Row defence on the left. His cross found Henry Spalding who shot over.

Hartley came into the game and had a good spell prompted by good hold up play by Mitch Parker who was a threat throughout.

The introduction of Josh Webb from the subs bench added creativity to the midfield and it was no surprise when the Row equalised on 57 minutes.

A fluent move from the left of midfield involving Josh Webb and Sam Argent saw the ball fed through to Aaron Kuhl who scored with a fine shot from the edge of the penalty area.

The Marine responded and showed urgency which led them to retaking the lead on 68 minutes.

The ball was worked down the left and a resulting cross went over to the right. The returned cross was converted my Conor McDonagh whose strike was not clean but still found the net (2-1).

The home side dominated for a spell and Williams had to be alert to save from Mc Donagh on 72 minutes and again from Campbell on 82 minutes.

Marine put the game out of the Row’s reach on 84 minutes.

With Hartley pushing forward a quick break saw a through ball which found the run of McDonagh. The striker showed composure in guiding the ball into the net.

Hartley pressed towards the end and were rewarded with a second goal in added time.

Ty Smith made good progress down the right his cross saw Kuhl win a 50/50 challenge.

The ball spun into the air and Steven Duff coming in from the left headed over Horsell and into the net.

For the Row an inconsistent performance. They were good in parts and certainly during a period in the second half.

However on other parts of the game the passing was poor with unforced errors creeping in.

For the two returning strikers it was a day of mixed fortunes. Sam Argent had a decent match but had to leave the field after pulling up holding his leg muscles on 69 minutes.

Mitch Parker did well as a target man and held up the ball well with good skills.

After the game Hartley manager Anthony Millerick said: " We are disappointed by the result of course.

We seem to give away cheap goals at the moment.

"Credit to the team the way they responded in the second half and took the game to the Marine. We had a really good period which was encouraging.

He added: "The enforced substitutions at various stages in the match did not help as we had to change our shape.

"In this league the harsh lesson we are learning is that we must score when we are on top in matches."

This Tuesday, Hartley are at home to Hendon.