LEE Spalding praised Swindon Supermarine’s shape and discipline following Saturday’s encouraging Southern League Premier Division South draw at the Webbswood Stadium against table-topping Weymouth.

Marine took the lead through Conor McDonagh’s close-range header with only 10 minutes played following an accurate cross from Bradley Gray on the right.

A defensive blunder by Michael Hopkins gifted the Terras a path back into the game though as Calvin Brooks poached the ball from a weak header to comfortably lob Marine keeper Kev Sawyer and level the game.

Chances came and went for both teams in the second half – Sawyer made a critical save to deny Brandon Goodship on the hour mark - before McDonagh had a goal disallowed minutes later after the linesman flagged for offside.

The home side’s dogged performance ensured Weymouth dropped only their ninth point of the season.

And while Spalding admits he would have taken a draw prior to the game, he felt his side deserved greater reward for their persistent efforts.

He said: “I’m delighted with the performance from the team, I thought the shape of the team was really good and defensively we were really well set-up and disciplined – something which we’ve worked on hard in training in the last couple of weeks.

“Weymouth are a good team, and we made it hard for them to break us down. They always pass the ball very well, so I felt the work we did off the ball was going to be very important.”

Spalding was particularly pleased with Bradley Gray’s work on the right and the endeavour shown by his back four, which included former Swindon Town man Jerel Ifil.

“Bradley Gray’s wide play was excellent, he delivered two or three excellent balls into the box which was fantastic,” said Spalding.

“I said before the game to push the ball wide and get it into the box.

“Every player worked their socks off, it was a real team effort.”