Swindon Supermarine suffered their second league defeat under John Murphy on Saturday, losing 2-0 at Weston-super-Mare.

Not for the first time this season, midfielder Paul Donnelly was sent off, and five other Marine players were booked as the visitors' frustrations boiled over.

Marine were never really at the races, and they failed to recapture the level of performance shown against Chippenham on Boxing Day.

The writing was on the wall after 22 minutes, when Lea James the goalscorer in Wednesday's 1-1 draw handled in the box.

Weston's leading scorer Jody Bevan tucked away the penalty with minimum fuss.

James' afternoon quickly went from bad to worse, and the defensive hardman hobbled off with a twisted knee.

Murphy's side displayed some signs of a revival after the break.

Tate Hulbert rattled the post, and Steve Bennett fired wide when well placed.

But Donnelly picked ap a second yellow on the hour, and the contest drifted away from the visitors.

Justin Pritchard's late free-kick proved the final nail in the Marine coffin.

To make matters worse, all of Marine's relegation rivals picked up results, and Murphy's men now trail the pack by five points.

"We just couldn't get going,'' said Murphy. "Everything we tried backfired, we didn't cause them enough problems and we were lacking confidence.

"For the first time since I've been here, a lot of the players didn't do themselves justice.

"We played poorly and we have to pick ourselves up for the Cirencester game on New Year's Day.''

Supermarine face Cirencester tomorrow in their second local derby of the week.

With Ciren currently hovering a few spots above the drop zone, the match takes on even more significance.

Marine boss Murphy though, is playing down the contest, saying: "The game is important to us, but as I always say, it's still only three points, the same as we would get from any other game.

"Losing at Weston puts more pressure on us getting a result against Cirencester, but it will also give the players a chance to show a bit of character."

Murphy's main injury doubt ahead of the game is Lea James. The defender suffered a twisted knee at Weston, and is unlikely to be risked.

Ciren boss Ray Baverstock is expected to name an unchanged side after his team's convincing 3-0 win over Bedworth on Saturday.

A win for Ciren will, barring disaster, virtually maintain their place in the division for next season.

Three points for Marine would put Murphy's men within touching distance of the safety zone.