SWINDON Supermarine produced a superb second-half fightback to share the spoils with county rivals Salisbury as Saturday’s Wiltshire derby in Southern League Premier Division South ended in a 2-2 draw.

Daniel Fitchett’s strike six minutes before half-time put the visitors ahead at the break at the Webbswood Stadium before Warren Bentley doubled the advantage in the early stages of the second period.

But Marine raised their game from there and Stuart Fleetwood gave them hope and cut the deficit on the hour mark.

Lee Spalding’s side then galvanised themselves for a grandstand finish and Conor McDonagh struck with two minutes to go to level the scores.

Salisbury had a man sent in stoppage time as Lewis Benson was given his marching orders, but there was no time for Marine to snatch a last-gasp winner as the derby finished all-square.

Although his side had to come from 2-0 down to snatch a draw, Marine manager Spalding felt a point was the least they deserved.

“We were definitely worthy of the point,” said Spalding.

“Salisbury didn’t have many chances, but the ones they did have, they took. Whereas if I was being critical of us, we weren’t clinical enough.

“But I can’t moan as we are creating good chances and we showed a lot of spirit to come back and get a draw.”

Spalding conceded his team made life difficult for themselves by failing to take control of the contest in the early stages, but was full of praise for the way Marine battled back to earn a share of the spoils.

“We started the game really well and I thought we should have been 2-0 up, maybe even 3-0, by the time they scored. We created a lot of chances,” said Spalding.

“We know the way Salisbury set up – they are a team that likes to keep possession of the ball. We set up to try to stop that, and we didn’t really succeed on the day.

“In the first half, they had a lot of possession, which made it difficult on a hot day. But when we won the ball back, we created some great opportunities. If we had taken them, I think it would have been a much different game.

“It was slightly disappointing to go in at half-time 1-0 down but the message to the players was to keep creating chances like we had done and be more clinical in front of goal.

“We changed the shape after going 2-0 down and that worked a lot better. The lads we brought off the bench made a lot of difference.

“We kept going and the goals came in the end. By the time we got to full-time, I was a little disappointment not to take the three points as we had created enough chances to win two games.”

Marine are back in action on Bank Holiday Monday when they travel to Merthyr Town.