SUPERMARINE assistant coach Sean Millwaters believes Southern Counties South survival is not beyond his side despite a 43-0 home defeat to Trowbridge.

The South Marston club have still only won once since earning promotion at the end of last season, but have seen an upturn in form and performances recently following a series of heavy defeats in the early weeks of the campaign.

Millwaters is back at the club working alongside coach Gavin Russ following a spell away, and believes Marine can still save themselves if they continue to improve.

“I really don’t think staying in the league is beyond us, and we will see what happens and target some games which come up against the likes of Oakmeadians,” he said.

“We are playing some good rugby, and there are some positives to take for sure.

“We may have lost at the weekend but we highlighted a few issues that we can work on, the first being controlling the breakdown, and the second is improving our lineout.

“If we can do those things then we give ourselves a chance, and we just have to highlight games which we can win.”

Millwaters dusted off his boots to take to the field for the game, and although Marine eventually fell to a comprehensive defeat he insisted there were positives to take.

“Trowbridge were just really tough in the breakdown, and in rugby if you can’t compete there then you are not going to win games,” he said.

“In the first half we played some pretty good stuff and we were only 17-0 down, and they had a full-back who was absolutely rapid and was causing us real problems. But we asked the right questions of them, and at half-time we had played some of the best rugby we had played this season.

“In the second half they managed to score four tries, but it was one of those games where although the scoreline says differently, it never got away from us.”

As well as coaching and playing for the club’s men’s team, Millwaters is also in charge of the ladies side who fell to a 24-17 defeat to London Welsh at the weekend.

Marine slipped behind to three early tries, but hit back just before half-time with a score from Candi Inskip and another after the break from Claire Chard, both converted to secure a bonus point.

“We were 22 down in half an hour mainly because of their full-back, but we got to grips with her in the end and we were sorted,” Millwaters said.

“When we were that many down it could have ended up being a 40 or 50-point defeat, but all credit has to go to the players for digging in and coming back. After scoring our points we were right in the game, and we showed some great character.”

Elsewhere in the division, Wootton Bassett suffered an 11-6 defeat away at second-placed Sherborne.