Welcome to this week’s roundup of sporting action from around Marlow. We are keen to include as wide a variety of sports and clubs, so if you want to be featured, please contact our sports reporter Cameron Beazley-Clarke via our contact form.
Marlow Hockey Club
Women’s results
Marlow Ladies’ first team are flying high as they look set for National League promotion – the first time in their history!
Off the back of some good results Marlow went into the game against local rivals Henley knowing that a win would put the reds ten points clear in the battle for a coveted spot among the elite in the National League.
After a week’s break, Marlow 1s traveled to Henley and extended their unbeaten run in a 2-1 victory.
Martha Goodridge had beaten the Henley keeper but was denied a goal by a great save off the line by a Henley defender.
Henley had their chances too including a penalty corner, but keeper Alys Ramm and her defence held strong to keep them out.
The breakthrough came as Marlow’s Lauren Hilditch, formerly of Henley, opened the scoring for the visitors after some incredible play from Goodridge.
Both teams continued to fight in the second half. With rising tensions came cards for both teams.
Henley capitalized on a defensive error which led to a penalty corner.
They slotted the ball past the Marlow defence to draw level. Marlow had several chances to regain the lead with Mabel Daw showing her pace with some mazy runs from defence.
Marlow earned a penalty corner with 15 minutes remaining in the match. Beth Halbard scored her sixth goal of the season with a deflection in front of the keeper to put Marlow back in the lead.
Marlow earned a well-fought three points and remain top of the league with five matches to go. and 10 points to the good.
League table:
The 2nd team were at home to Chichester 1s and a first half brace from Helena Sykora helped secure a point in a 2-2 draw.
Marlow had a strong first half and took a deserved lead when Emma Buxton’s early pass found Sykora who smashed in from a tight angle.
Sykora’s second, an individual reverse stick effort from the top of the D, doubled Marlow’s advantage.
Chichester halved the deficit with a slick corner shortly before halftime.
The away side drew level slightly fortuitously as a corner strike was charged down but the deflection looped in under the bar giving no chance for the helpless keeper.
The game became more scrappy as both sides searched for a winner in vain.
League table:
Other women’s results:
- 3rd Team lost 3-2 to Staines 1s,
- 4th Team lost 3-2 to Leighton Buzzard 2s,
- 5th Team beat Windsor 3s 5-2 away,
- 6th Team lost 3-2 to Yateley 2s, and
- 7th Team beat High Wycombe 3-0 away.
Men’s results
Mid table mediocrity for Marlow men’s first team: As they languish in sixth position in South Central Premier Division, Marlow are finding wins hard to come by as they lost 5-1 away to Bournemouth.
With a depleted squad, the 1st XI travelled to Bournemouth, expecting a challenging game against a team who were only two points ahead of them in the league.
Previous results have been tight with only single-goal victories and a draw in prior battles.
The boys started the game well, cohesively executing the game plan and denying Bournemouth time and space in our half.
A nice steal in midfield set up a good counterattack which Isaac Maddern calmly finished.
The remainder of the half was tight, unfortunately, it was Bournemouth who managed to create the better of the chances and win 2 cheap corners, from which they scored both.
2-1 at halftime and we were very much in the contest.
The second half was a similar story, Bournemouth again taking their chances from corners to go 3-1 and then 4-1 up.
Marlow had similar opportunities at the other end but couldn’t execute at quite the same consistency. Bournemouth then put the final nail in the coffin with 3 minutes to go to make it 5-1.
Despite the scoreline, it was a good performance from the 12 who battled hard for the full 70 minutes. Special mention to Ollie Harvey who made his M1 debut and looked very comfortable at left half, so much so that he was voted man of the match.
League table:
The 2nd team were at home to Witney 1s with several regular players absent – including captain Dan Field whose goal-scoring ability was missed – and played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Several young players, unused to playing at this level came in and all acquitted themselves well against an experienced hard running Witney team.
Marlow played well from the start with good passing hockey and in defence, Phil Cowell and Dave Harding used all their experience to keep Witney at bay. Both stepped up to score goals following penalty corners.
Witney scored before halftime with a goal that went in off a Marlow defender and the half ended 2-1 to the home team.
The second half continued to be fast and furious with Marlow continuing to play attractive hockey which Witney found increasingly frustrating. Both goalkeepers were kept busy and Witney levelled the score. The game ended 2-2, a fitting end to a hard-fought match.
League table:
Other men’s results:
- 3rd Team lost 9-1 to Bicester 1s,
- 4th Team beat Amersham & Chalfont 4s 6-1 away,
- 5th Team lost 2-0 to Wycombe 3,
- 6th Team beat Eastcote 6s 3-0 away, and
- 7th Team beat Wallingford 5s 4-0.
Marlow Town Women’s Football Club
Marlow Town Ladies triumphed in a nail-biting match against Wokingham and Emmbrook, securing a stunning 3-2 win!
Goals from Hayleigh Larkin, along with strikes from Natalie Richardson, a superb assist from Brit Wilcox, and a winning goal from Iryna Zabolotna propelled Marlow to victory.
Starting the game in 4th place, Marlow’s determined performance saw them leapfrog Wokingham into third, showcasing their great teamwork on the pitch. Let’s keep the momentum going…. up next is Stanford-in-the-Vale Women on Sunday.
League table:
Marlow Football Club
“No excuses” says Steadman after blues devoured by Green Lions.
Marlow 2-4 Guernsey.
Coach Aaron Steadman says Marlow can have no excuses and were “simply not good enough” as they crashed to a 2-4 home defeat at the hands of Guernsey last night.
Marlow twice squandered their slender lead, eventually coming off second best against the 17th place Green Lions.
Suspensions, injuries and other commitments meant the blues made 6 changes from their 4-0 victory over Chipstead last week and despite a brace from Marlow marksman Dawid Rogalski, Guernsey were too good on this occasion.
The Uppers have no time to dwell on this defeat, and a perfect opportunity to put it behind them, travelling to leaders Chertsey Town on Saturday.
The blues remain 2nd in the league table:
Marlow United Football Club
Marlow brushed aside a hapless Taplow Swans team with a ten goal, unanswered , blast in the Subsidiary Cup.
United completely overwhelmed a Taplow United Swan’s team , scoring ten unanswered goals as they look to move into the knock out stages of the subsidiary cup.
The game was as good as done in the first 25 minutes as the visitors rapped home 4 goals missing a number of excellent opportunities as the half ran on.
An early 5th goal arrived in the second period and the goals continued to flow as Marlow swamped their struggling opponents.
Credit to the home team who never gave up or resorted to strong arm tactics, Marlow return to league action next week as they entertain Finchampstead United. FT 10-0.
League table:
