SWINDON SUPERMARINE remain nine points adrift of Western Division safety after another tale of misfortune and missed chances.

Ray Baverstock's side more than held their own against title-chasing Weston-super-Mare for 83 minutes before a couple of late sucker punches condemned the Hunts Copse battlers to a 2-0 home defeat.

Marine boss Baverstock watched on as chance after chance was wasted and a golden opportunity to produce the upset of the season went begging.

"It's a game we've lost that we should have won on the chances we had," he said.

"It really is frustrating. We've had three or four very good openings and the game should have been put beyond them."

There was little between the two sides in a scrappy first half.

Star-studded Weston carved out the early opportunities, with ex-Bristol Rovers man David Mehew going close.

Former Chelsea defender David Lee also tested Elliott Jackson with a 25-yard free-kick.

Marine's best chance of the half fell to Jimmy Carter but his strike was held by Stuart Jones, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday.

Dave Gee could have given the hosts a half-time advantage, but his drive sailed over Jones' bar.

Carter came within inches of giving Marine the lead five minutes after the restart as his glancing header beat the dive of Jones but hit the post and bounced to safety.

Jones then palmed away a searing Shaun Terry volley and Carter cleared the woodwork with another effort.

Carter was again off target following a succession of Marine corners on the hour.

But a late Weston substitution turned the tide.

Jody Bevan was introduced on 75 and the striker broke the deadlock within 10 minutes.

Jackson failed to command a long throw into the box, colliding with Mark Saunders in the process and Bevan was able to nod into an unguarded net.

John Miller sealed the win at the death with a powerful drive through a crowd of players beyond the unsighted Jackson.

The defeat leaves Marine needing at least three wins from their remaining nine games, but Baverstock is still optimistic about the task in hand.

"We should have beaten them three or four nil today, but we didn't take our chances and that was the difference" he said.

"We're still confident though We're not going to throw the towel in."

SUPERMARINE: Jackson, Saunders, Gee, Davies, McCluskey, Copp, Bennett, Harris, Terry, Carter, Slattery

Subs: Bourne, Grange, Titcombe, Bunting

Attendance: 121

NICK Williams was unable to make his Marine debut on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Watford loanee completed a temporary move to Hunts Copse on Thursday, but injured himself in a training session prior to the Weston match.

He now faces a race to be fit for next Saturday's derby against Cirencester.