SWINDON Supermarine manager Lee Spalding thinks his side’s Wiltshire Senior Cup heroics may have caught up with his side after they went down 1-0 at Wimborne Town in Southern League Premier Division South on Saturday.

Marine lifted the county cup on Wednesday night with a 3-1 success over Salisbury, but crashed back to earth with a bump upon their return to league action in Dorset.

Franklyn Clarke’s goal midway through the second half was enough to settle the contest as Marine surrendered a four-match winning run in all competitions.

Spalding conceded his side were far below their best in what was a poor game overall against Wimborne, and felt the effort the players put in to be crowned county champions in midweek played a part in the flat performance.

“I think the game on Wednesday took a lot out of us – we looked a little bit jaded,” said Spalding.

“It was a hot day and the pitch was rock hard. It had that end-of-season feeling to it.

“We didn’t really get going and enforce our game on them. We found it hard to get the ball down and play.

“We went behind in about the 70th minute. It was a poor goal to give away defensively and I always felt one team was going to nick a goal to settle it.

“We probably didn’t do enough to win the game, but I don’t think Wimborne did enough to win it either.”

Marine currently sit ninth in the table and can bolster their bid for a top-10 finish on Easter Monday when they host Hartley Wintney.

The visitors to the Webbswood Stadium are only two points above Marine, so Spalding’s side will climb above them should they claim victory.

“I am disappointed that our good run has come to an end, but it’s important we bounce back on Monday,” said Spalding.

“We want to have a positive finish to the season and a home win would be great for that before the last game of the season away at Hendon next weekend.

“One of the problems on Saturday is that we had a few players unavailable, but I think we are going to have a couple back for Monday.

“We have got some injuries to contend with and Hartley Wintney are a good side, so if we are not at our best, we won’t get anything out of it.”