Two attempts made by the marksman (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
crack shot
'the marksman' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'two attempts made by' is the wordplay.
'two attempts' means two substitutions for 'attempt'.
'attempt' becomes 'crack' (crack is a kind of attempt).
'attempt' becomes 'shot' (shot is a kind of attempt).
'made by' says to put letters next to each other (letters written or made by another set of letters).
'crack'+'shot'='CRACK SHOT'
(Other definitions for crack shot that I've seen before include "Expert marksman" , "Ace marksman" .)