MICHAEL Hopkins struck late from the spot to help Swindon Supermarine come from 2-0 down and secure all three points away at Harrow Borough.

In a first half that was not devoid of action, the score only remained goalless as Harrow goalkeeper Hafed Al-Droubi pulled off a number of good saves to deny Marine.

The action did not start to hot up until the 70th minute, when Harrow opened their account.

Supermarine continued to press, but were hit with a further sucker punch moments later. This proved to be the catalyst for changes that would alter the course of the match.

Manager Lee Spalding sent on Ryan Campbell and Conor McDonagh who played their part in the three-goal turnaround.

Campbell netted a quickfire brace before Michael Hopkins dispatched a late penalty to ensure the points travelled back along the M4 to Wiltshire.

Spalding explained his relative shock to watching his team go 2-0 down and heaped praise on the home goalkeeper for preventing Marine from running away with the game.

Spalding said: “I thought the performance was really good and we never dropped off throughout the 90 minutes.

“We started really brightly and probably should have been two or 3-0 up at half-time. Their goalkeeper was probably their best player.

“We continued to play well after the break and we created opportunities, so to go 2-0 down was a bit of a kick in the teeth.

“At that point, I was thinking it might be a day where our missed opportunities were going to cost us, but I made a couple of substitutions after the second goal and that proved to make a massive difference.”

Campbell and McDonagh wasted no time in helping their team turn a sticky situation around – the wide men having played their part in Marine squaring the game up within six minutes of their introduction.

An inspired double substitution from Spalding means Marine are now sat in fourth in Southern Premier Division South and four points from the summit.

Spalding said: “I thought we played well before we conceded, but we just hadn’t taken our chances when they came along.

“Ryan Campbell scored twice, and Conor McDonagh set one of them up, so they made a difference.

“But I still thought we were the better side up until then anyway.

“We were just unfortunate that we came up against a team whose best player was their goalkeeper.

“On another day, we would have won quite comfortably.”