THERE was a new-look management team in charge of Swindon Supermarine on Saturday. Unfortunately the end product was far too familiar.

Tom Jones and Alan MacDonald saw their fledgling Marine side produce a gutsy display at Gresley Rovers, before a late Gary Smith strike consigned them to a 2-1 defeat.

The result leaves rock-bottom Marine and fellow strugglers Stourport Swifts detached from the pack in the drop zone.

But Jones and Co can take heart from a decent display against one of the Western Division's stronger forces.

Jones had promised a return to core pass and move values, and the ploy worked well during the first half as Marine sliced the home defence open on numerous occasions.

Marc Richards linked well with Dominic Dunton before forcing Gresley keeper James Linley into a smart stop.

On-loan Adie Adams also called Linley into action as Marine edged the opening exchanges.

But Gresley punished missed opportunities deep into first-half stoppage time when Marine failed to clear a set piece and Smith smashed a low drive beyond the reach of Paul Titcombe.

Jones and MacDonald's debut half-time pep talk did the trick, and Marine bounced back within two minutes of the second half.

Player-boss Jones swept in a right-wing fee-kick and Richards rose to head home the equaliser.

Promotion-chasing Gresley responded by throwing everything at Marine's youthful rearguard.

Neil Kitching and Mark Peters both saw long-range efforts crash against the Marine bar before the pressure finally told on 73 minutes.

Smith collected his brace after turning inside the box and driving in a powerful shot which Titcombe got a hand to but could not stop.

So an eighth successive league defeat leaves Marine rooted to the bottom, but Jones saw enough to believe that his charges will soon be holding their own.

"We'll keep at it," he said. "We knew it wasn't going to be a quick fix, but if we continue to play like we did today, we'll win more games than we lose.

"I thought we were the better footballing side today, we just didn't have the craft in the final third of the field.

"We need a little bit more punch up front, someone who can get us a goal, because that was the difference today."

n Marine: Titcombe, Dunton, Davis, Smith, Oke, Richards, White, Jones, Bennett, Adams, Collier Subs: Knox, Winchcombe, McCluskey

Attendance: 349

n Just as Cirencester manager Brian Hughes thought his defensive crisis was over, the Centurians rearguard sprung another majorleak on Saturday.

Hughes had seen his side concede 14 goals in three games before last week's 2-0 win over Rugby had given Ciren fans fresh hope.

But it's back to the drawing board, as Hughes' defence capitulated again during a 4-0 defeat at Redditch.

Ciren had started brightly enough, as Dave Gee had a goal-bound strike blocked.

But that fragile defensive line were soon breached when Richard Softley was invited to prod home the opener on five minutes.

Gareth Hopkins twice went close for visiting Ciren, as Hughes' side looked thoroughly capable of getting a result when the sides went in at the break.

But the Centurians were again caught cold after the restart, and five minutes in, the dangerous Matty Hall teed up Alex Cowley to make it 2-0.

Hall prised Ciren open again to create a third for Peter Sutton, and as Hughes' side pushed forward, Richard Field added a late fourth.

Once again, it was a beating Ciren didn't deserve.

But the continued failure to take your chances and a nasty habit of capitulating at the back, isn't the formula for success.

Ciren are treading a fine line between a steady mid-table campaign and a relegation struggle.

Now Hughes must act fast to ensure his charges fall into the right category.

Cirencester: Glassup, Radcliffe, Fraser, Mayo S Hopkins, Smith Hunt, Hughes, G Hopkins, McCabe, Gee Subs: Clarke, Hayward, Dale, Clarke Attendance: 186